Tuesday, March 24, 2009 - Leasburg Dam State Park, Radium Springs NM
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Spring along the Acequia, Leasburg Dam State Park, Radium Springs NM, March 23, 2009
A sure sign of spring, Leasburg Dam is closed and the acequia flows.
A diversion dam for the valley
To quote signage at the overlook:
In the early 1900s, after the onstruction of the Elephant Butte storage dam, planning began for a project to divert water from the Rio Grande to irrigate crops for 50 miles through the Mesilla Valley.
In late winter of 1908, the Leasburg Diversion Dam was completed. This concrete dam held back the flow of the Rio Grande, not to create a storage reservoir, but to divert water from the Rio Grande into a canal. From this canal, ditches delivered water to the communities od Dona Ana, Las Cruces, and Mesilla.
The dam was constructed of reinforced concrete with some hand-placed rubble. Peñasco Rock, located on the eastern shore, was used as the east end for the dam. The western end was concrete. The openings for the canal headgates were cut into solid rock.
Night camp
Site 11 - Leasburg Dam State Park, Radium Springs NM
- Verizon cell phone service - good signal
- Verizon EVDO service - good signal
- Go to Leasburg Dam State Park website
- Locate Leasburg Dam State Park on my Night Camps map
- Check the weather here
Canning the Blueberries
Another wait of more than an hour and he was back in the berry picking business. He found some good patches and was really canning the blueberries. Only room for so many and what appeared to be about two gallons spilled out behind. Now and again he used the claws of a front foot to rake a bush in front of the picker head.