page_title: Middle Rio Grande Project
section_title: Overview
hierarchical_section_title: Middle Rio Grande Project / Overview
caption_attribution_description: English: The shoreline of Cochiti Lake behind Cochiti Dam on the Rio Grande in Sandoval County, New Mexico, USA. Coordinates: 35°37′33.52″N 106°19′28.75″W﻿ / ﻿35.6259778°N 106.3246528°W
context_page_description: The Middle Rio Grande Project manages water in the Albuquerque Basin of New Mexico, United States.
  It includes major upgrades and extensions to the irrigation facilities built by the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and modifications to the channel of the Rio Grande to control sedimentation and flooding. The bulk of the work was done by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and the United States Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s, but construction continued into the 1970s and maintenance is ongoing. The project is complementary to the San Juan-Chama Project, which transfers water from the San Juan River in the Colorado River Basin to the Rio Grande. Although distribution of water from the two projects is handled through separate allotments and contracts, there is some sharing of facilities including the river itself. The ecological impact on the river and the riparian zone was the subject of extended litigation after a group of environmentalists filed Rio Grande Silvery Minnow v. Bureau of Reclamation in 1999.
context_section_description: The Middle Rio Grande Project includes the river, dams, irrigation and drainage channels from Velarde south to the point where the river enters the Elephant Butte Reservoir.  It also includes maintenance of the river near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
  The irrigation facilities, originally built by the conservancy district, irrigate up to 89,652 acres (36,281 ha), and include 30,000 acres (12,000 ha) of Indian water rights lands.
  The Bureau of Reclamation operates and maintains El Vado Dam and the river from Velarde to the Narrows of Elephant Butte Reservoir. The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District
  operates the irrigation facilities, including the three diversion dams. The Corps of Engineers operates and maintains Cochiti Dam.
caption: Cochiti reservoir
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