Two Rivers Dam

Two Rivers Dam
Two Rivers Dam
	Location of Two Rivers Dam in New Mexico
Country	United States
Location	Chaves County, New Mexico
Coordinates	33°17′52″N104°43′23″W / 33.29778°N 104.72306°W Coordinates: 33°17′52″N104°43′23″W / 33.29778°N 104.72306°W
Purpose	Flood control
Opening date	August, 1963
Owner(s)	United States Army Corps of Engineers
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Embankment, earth-fill
Impounds	Hondo River & Rocky Arroyo
Height	107 ft (33 m)
Length	7,950 ft (2,420 m)
Width (base)	600 ft (180 m)
Reservoir
Normal elevation	3,950 ft (1,200 m) AMSL

Last updated March 23, 2019

The Two Rivers Dam is a dry dam in southeastern New Mexico, sixteen miles west-southwest of the city of Roswell. The dam is actually two dams separated by an area of higher land approximately 1.5 miles wide. Normally, no water is impounded behind the dams, they are strictly for flood control. However, during the spring runoff water will back up behind the northern dam. This has created a small oasis in the lowlands behind the dam.

A dry dam is a dam constructed for the purpose of flood control. Dry dams typically contain no gates or turbines, and are intended to allow the channel to flow freely during normal conditions. During periods of intense rainfall that would otherwise cause floods, the dam holds back the excess water, releasing it downstream at a controlled rate.

New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern region of the United States of America; its capital and cultural center is Santa Fe, which was founded in 1610 as capital of Nuevo México, while its largest city is Albuquerque with its accompanying metropolitan area. It is one of the Mountain States and shares the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona; its other neighboring states are Oklahoma to the northeast, Texas to the east-southeast, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua to the south and Sonora to the southwest. With a population around two million, New Mexico is the 36th state by population. With a total area of 121,590 sq mi (314,900 km²), it is the fifth-largest and sixth-least densely populated of the 50 states. Due to their geographic locations, northern and eastern New Mexico exhibit a colder, alpine climate, while western and southern New Mexico exhibit a warmer, arid climate.

Roswell is a city and the seat of Chaves County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 48,411, making it the fifth-largest city in New Mexico. It is a center for irrigated farming, dairying, ranching, manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum production. It is also the home of New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI), founded in 1891. Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located a few miles northeast of the city on the Pecos River. Bottomless Lakes State Park is located 12 miles (19 km) east of Roswell on US 380.

Both dams are earth-fill dams with coarse rubble on the faces to prevent erosion. The tops of both dams are 4058 feet above sea level. During a flood, each dam's reservoir is separate until the water reaches 4000 feet above sea level, at which point the two reservoirs combine to form a single large reservoir.

Northern Dam

The northern dam, also known as the Diamond A dam^[1] or the first dam, is 5000 feet long and 95 feet tall. It is 525 feet wide at the base and 24 feet wide at the top. It crosses the Hondo River. At the base of the dam there is a flood control gate which can be closed to prevent flood waters from flowing downstream. The gate is normally left open to allow the river to flow freely. The gate is only closed when it is necessary to prevent flooding. This dam has a two lane gravel road across the top which is open to the public. The southern dam is accessed by crossing the northern dam.

The Rio Hondo is a 79-mile-long (127 km) river in southern New Mexico which begins at the confluence of the Rio Bonito and Rio Ruidoso rivers near the town of Hondo, New Mexico. The river flows eastward through the Hondo Valley in the foothills of the Sierra Blanca and Capitan Mountains, roughly paralleling the route of U.S. Route 70 through the towns of Picacho and Tinnie. Near the community of Riverside the river passes through a deep canyon before entering the rolling hills west of Roswell.

Southern Dam

The southern dam, also known as the second dam, is 2950 feet long and 107 feet tall. It is 600 feet wide at the base and 18 feet wide at the top. It crosses the Rocky Arroyo, which is an intermittent stream. Rocky Arroyo doesn't normally have water flowing through it and the impoundment area behind the dam is much drier than the impoundment area behind the northern dam.

History

The city of Roswell suffered devastating floods in 1937, 1941, and 1954. After the 1954 flood, the US Congress passed the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954 which authorized the Corps of Engineers to build dams to protect Roswell from floods. The dams were completed in 1963.^[2]

The United States Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954 is a United States statute. It has been amended several times.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is a U.S. federal agency under the Department of Defense and a major Army command made up of some 37,000 civilian and military personnel, making it one of the world's largest public engineering, design, and construction management agencies. Although generally associated with dams, canals and flood protection in the United States, USACE is involved in a wide range of public works throughout the world. The Corps of Engineers provides outdoor recreation opportunities to the public, and provides 24% of U.S. hydropower capacity.

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References

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[1] ttp://www.spa.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/Recreation/TwoRiversDam.aspx

[2] ttp://www.spa.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/Recreation/TwoRiversDam.aspx