284 THE FUTURE OF ARID LANDS 
ABE Re2 
Discharge and Salt Burden for Seven Stations on the Rio Grande above Fort 
Quitman, Texas 
(Annual means and total for the year 19497) 
I 2 3 4 5 6 
Total 
Concentration 
‘ Condace s Dissolved 
Station Miles Dis- tivity Diseiengs Solids 
solved ae? (acre-feet) 
: (micro- (tons) 
Solids 
mhos 
ee per cm) 
Otowi Bridge, N. M. ° 206 320 1,323,000 370,440 
San Marcial, N. M. 184 353 520 1,0$4,000 505,920 
Elephant Butte, N. M. 240 404 610 813, 500 447,425 
Caballo Dam, N. M. 268 441 670 GON INTE) 
Leasburg Dam, N. M. 318 489 730 689 , 143 458,280 
El Paso, Tex. 37/5 750 1160 463,540 472,811 
Fort Quitman, Tex. 456 2631 4030 134,030 479,827 
2 These data are assembled from records of the U. S. Geological Survey, the U. S. and Mexico In- 
ternational Boundary Commission, the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Salinity Laboratory 
Data for the Rio Grande illustrate these effects. Table 2 gives 
the discharge, salt burden, and total concentration of salts for 
seven stations on the Rio Grande above Fort Quitman, Texas. 
These data are for a representative year and illustrate the effect 
of return flow on the quality of irrigation water. 
The distance from the Otowi Bridge, New Mexico, to Fort 
Quitman, Texas, is approximately 450 miles, and in this stretch 
of the river there are many diversions to irrigated lands. The 
four major irrigated areas are the Middle Rio Grande Project 
between Otowi and San Marcial, the Rincon and Mesilla Valleys 
between Caballo Dam and Courchesne, and the irrigated areas 
in Texas west of Fort Quitman which include the irrigation in El 
Paso County and that in the Hudspeth District. 
Middle Rio Grande Valley Project 67,000 acres 
Rincon and Mesilla Valleys 8§,000 acres 
E] Paso County 57,000. acres 
Hudspeth District 12,000 acres 
Total 221,000 acres 
