Editing Elephant Butte Reservoir (section)

==Dam construction and history==
{{main|Elephant Butte Dam}}
[[File:Elephantbutte tm5 1994153.jpg|thumb|Elephant Butte Reservoir in 1994]][[File:Elephantbutte oli 2013189.jpg|thumb|Elephant Butte Reservoir in 2013]]
The proposed dam featured in the [[Convention providing for the equitable distribution of waters of the Rio Grande for irrigation purposes|1906 Boundary Waters Convention]] between the United States and Mexico, which specified how much water should be delivered to Mexico after the dam's completion.<ref>https://www.ibwc.gov/Files/1906Conv.pdf text of 1906 Boundary Waters Convention</ref>

Elephant Butte Dam was constructed between 1911 and 1916, with the reservoir fill starting in 1915. It was a major engineering feat in its day, and the enormous concrete dam is the major feature of the Elephant Butte National Register Historic District. New Mexico State Parks operates a visitor center, which contains information on the construction of the dam. It was the second-largest irrigation dam ever built at the time of its construction and was surpassed only in 1970 by the [[Aswan Dam]] in [[Egypt]], and the reservoir was the largest man-made lake on earth.<ref name="AJ">{{Cite news|url=https://www.abqjournal.com/1472562/elephant-butte-looks-the-part-but-a-long-storied-history-is-at-the-center-of-how-the-dam-got-and-kept-its-name.html|title=Elephant Butte looks the part, but a long, storied history is at the center of how the dam got and kept its name|last=Briseño|first=Elaine D.|date= July 5, 2020|work=Albuquerque Journal|access-date=February 2, 2021|via=abqjournal.com}}</ref>

A large construction community sprang up, which included two worker camps, [[railways]], water tanks, [[aerial lift|cableway systems]], and the former administration building of the [[Bureau of Reclamation]]. The "camps" housed American and Mexican workers throughout the dam's construction. One of the former camps ended up under the reservoir itself; the other disappeared altogether. Moreover, many centuries-old communities and farming villages were "obliterated" by the filling of the reservoir and now lie at the bottom, including complete stone structures. Over 2,000 people were displaced by the filling of the reservoir.<ref name="AJ" />

When the reservoir started filling in 1915, irrigation use downstream was much more limited than today, which allowed the lake to remain relatively full. The lake experienced [[highstand]] for the first time in May 1942. That was the deepest highstand on record and stained the inundated landscape white with gypsum and other minerals and deposited sediments in the surrounding hills. In 1946, new irrigation infrastructure allowed heavy use of the water for farming downstream. By 1950, the "full production" use, coupled with intense drought in the upper basin, had caused the water levels to fall well below the initial 1915 levels. The lowest recorded storage level occurred on August 6, 1954. Another longer-lived highstand occurred in July 1985 and lasted with the spillway in use until 1988. Other highstands occurred in 1994 and 1995. Most of the photographs showing a full lake are from that relatively wet period. Drought has persisted since then, and as of February 2022, water levels have never recovered.<ref name="Reclamation 2009">{{cite journal |title=Elephant Butte Reservoir Five-Year Operational Plan |journal=Reclamation: Managing Water in the West |date=February 2009 |pages=3, 4 |url=https://www.usbr.gov/uc/albuq/envdocs/bo/ebutte/EB-Ops.pdf |access-date=February 9, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Water Data">{{Cite web|url=https://waterdatafortexas.org/reservoirs/individual/elephant-butte|title=Elephant Butte Lake Water Data|date= February 1, 2021|work=Albuquerque Journal|access-date=February 2, 2021|via=Water Data for Texas}}</ref>

The former administration building of the Bureau of Reclamation still stands as a [[bed and breakfast]] facility. Along with other structures of the time, it is listed in the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="Historic Heritage of Elephant Butte">{{cite web | date = Aug 2, 2006 | url = http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/prd/HumanHistoryatElephantButteLake.htm | title =History of Elephant Butte | work = HHEB data | publisher = New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department | access-date = February 21, 2012}}</ref> When the lake falls over 10 meters (30 feet) below maximum capacity, the ruins of the old machine shop and power plant are out of the water.<ref>{{cite web | date = February 10, 2013 | url = http://www.sierracountynewmexico.info/blog/hospital-at-the-bottom-of-elephant-butte-lake/ | title = The Legend of the Hospital at the bottom of Elephant Butte Lake | work = SCNM | publisher = Sierra County, NM | access-date = April 25, 2012}}</ref> Located near the southeastern shore, the 3000 square-foot concrete structure was once believed to be the remnants of the old field hospital that served the frequently-injured dam construction crew. That building is actually farther upstream in the aptly-named "Hospital Canyon." Plans are underway to make the machine shop ruins a scuba destination in years with a high water level.<ref name="Mystery Building of Elephant Butte">{{cite web | date = September 25, 2009 | url = http://www.uer.ca/locations/show.asp?locid=28736 | title = Mystery Building of Elephant Butte | work = Jonsered | publisher = Urban Exploration Resource | access-date = February 22, 2012}}</ref>

The American kidnapper and torturer [[David Parker Ray]] tortured his victims in his "toy box" trailer near the reservoir between 1957 and 1999. He is suspected of killing his victims and disposing of the bodies in the lake, but one survivor he had thought he killed was left near the American-Mexico border. Officials have conducted searches for his victims at the lake but have not found any human remains there or elsewhere that are related to Ray's activities.<ref name="AJ" />

In 2014, a group celebrating a bachelor party on the exposed sediments of the lake discovered the head and tusks of a 3.2-million-year-old [[stegomastodon]], a relative of true elephants, in excellent condition. That is one of the most complete finds of a stegomastodon in the area. The skull is on display at the [[New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science]].<ref name="AJ" />