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Thursday, January 13, 2011 - Percha Dam State Park, Arrey NM

Rincon Valley Main Canal, Percha Dam, Arrey NM, April 26, 2008
Rincon Valley Main Canal, Percha Dam, Arrey NM, April 26, 2008

No Percha Dam, no onions (like over the canal)

No pecans. No cotton. No chili. No whatever. Not in the Rincon Valley. A little about Percha Dam swiped from the US Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Reclamation, Cultural Resources Program website:

PERCHA DIVERSION DAM

  • 2 miles northeast of Arrey
  • National Register 4/06/1979

Percha Diversion Dam is an integral feature of the widespread Rio Grande Project, an early Bureau of Reclamation irrigation project that was authorized in 1905. Construction of the project facilities resulted in the delivery of a predictable and dependable water supply to farmers in the Rio Grande Valley in south-central New Mexico and west Texas. Located two miles downstream from Caballo Dam on the Rio Grande River, Percha Dam is a concrete ogee weir structure with embankment wings. It was constructed between 1916 and 1918. The dam diverts water into the Rincon Valley Main Canal, which provides water to over 16,000 acres of land in the Rincon Valley. Individually listed in the National Register, Percha Dam is also included as a contributing feature of the Elephant Butte Irrigation District National Register District.

Night camp

Site 23 - Percha Dam State Park, Arrey NM

The Bottom Line

...if you’re young, dear God, don’t try to live the way your parents did. You don’t need three bedrooms, although a roof is nice. Get the hell outa Dodge and stir things up. Leave! Adapt! Believe in yourself! Have fun! The bottom line is, do I have shelter and enough to eat. Everything else is optional. EVERYTHING! There are no rules!!! Just keep it simple: get that first bit down, no matter how, and you can get creative with the rest.

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