page_title: Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District
section_title: Initial construction
hierarchical_section_title: Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District / Initial construction
caption_attribution_description: English: El Vado Dam in New Mexico on the Rio Chama
context_page_description: The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District was formed in 1925 to manage the irrigation systems and control floods in the Albuquerque Basin.
  It is responsible for the stretch of river from the Cochiti Dam in Sandoval County in the north, through Bernalillo County, Valencia County and Socorro County to the Elephant Butte Reservoir in the south. It manages the Angostura, Isleta and San Acacia diversion dams, which feed an extensive network of irrigation canals and ditches.
context_section_description: A first attempt to create the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District was made in 1923, but failed due to legal problems.
  The backers persisted, and the district was successfully established as of 16 August 1925.
  The goals of the Conservancy were to protect the villages in the valley from floods, drain the swamps and provide water for irrigating the farms.
  In most areas the plan was to reduce the water table to 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 m).
  Irrigation water would be provided for 128,787 acres (52,118 ha) of arable land.
  18% of the land was Indian land, which caused some concern over whether Indian rights were being sufficiently protected, but the plan was finally approved by the president on 13 March 1928.
  By 1935 the Conservancy had built almost 200 miles (320 km) of levees along the river banks, and a system of jetties and checks to protect against floods.  
  The Conservancy had built the El Vado storage dam, and the Cochiti, Angostura, Isleta, and San Acacia diversion dams to channel water into irrigation canals for each section of the river.
  180 miles (290 km) of new main canal were built and 294 miles (473 km) of lateral ditches in addition to 214 miles (344 km) of existing laterals.  341 miles (549 km) of drainage canal were built to lower the water table.  118,000 acres (48,000 ha) were developed, of which 20,700 acres (8,400 ha) were Indian lands. 59,159 acres (23,941 ha) were being irrigated.
caption: El Vado storage dam
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