News Release Archive

Brantley Reservoir Storing Water during Heavy Rains on the Pecos

Media Contact: Mary Carlson, 505-462-3576, mcarlson@usbr.gov

For Release: September 22, 2014

CARLSBAD, NM - Dams along the Pecos River are working properly and operating as they should although large-scale rain events over the entire basin continue to cause flooding in southeastern New Mexico.

Brantley Reservoir, located less than 10 miles north of Carlsbad, is currently holding about 59,000 acre-feet of water. It has risen approximately four feet over the last week. The reservoir's flood capacity is about 1 million acre-feet so there is plenty of room to continue capturing any inflow. The Bureau of Reclamation shut down any releases from Brantley late last week in anticipation of the storms.

The majority of the flood waters in the area have come from Rocky Arroyo and Dark Canyon Draw, which both reach the Pecos south of Brantley. Lake Avalon, a very small reservoir between Brantley and Carlsbad, reached its capacity of about 5,000 acre-feet with flood waters from Rocky Arroyo, which exceeded a 36,000 cubic-foot-per-second flow on Sunday night. The rate at which Avalon Dam is spilling water has rapidly slowed.

Dark Canyon Draw, which meets the Pecos in Carlsbad, also peaked last night and is now flowing at a lower rate. The Pecos River channel capacity of about 20,000 cubic-feet-per-second was reached and briefly exceeded in the Carlsbad area last night due to uncontrolled floods from these two tributaries, and historic rainfall amounts. Flood waters continue to recede, but water managers continue to closely monitor storm cells again brewing in the area.

The Bureau of Reclamation is coordinating closely with the Carlsbad Irrigation District. We are also working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Weather Service, the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, the Red Bluff Irrigation District and the Fort Sumner Irrigation District.

Residents living along the Pecos in the Carlsbad area should be on alert and listen for any directions from Eddy County. If you are not working with area law enforcement, the irrigation district or Reclamation, please abide by local evacuation and emergency warnings and stay away from spillways, draws, arroyos and the Pecos River.

# # #

The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.