Hondo Project, 12 miles southwest of Roswell on Rio Hondo, Roswell

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER NM-21. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Hondo Project was one of the first reclamation works built by the federal government after the passage of the Reclamation Act (Newlands Act) in It is significant in the history of the U.S. Reclamation Service in that it was one of their first failures. Description: The Hondo Reservoir is located east of the Hondo River and north of the town of Roswell, New Mexico. It is surrounded by privately-owned ranches. The Hondo Project was planned to divert water from the Rio Hondo via an earthen diversion dam measuring The diverted water followed an inlet canal to a natural depression located off the river channel. The storage capacity of the depression was increased by the construction of six earthen embankments, varying in height from to around it.

Water for irrigation could be released from the reservoir through an outlet tower. Downstream, this water could be recovered from the river and led onto fields by a series of diversion dams. History: About the Pecos Valley Irrigation and Investment Company bought the property and rights of the New Mexico Reservoir and Irrigation Company. Among these were the property and rights of a reservoir site on the Rio Hondo. The Pecos Valley Company then proceeded to investigate this reservoir site 12 miles above Roswell on the Rio Hondo. However, economic uncertainty preceding the Panic of stalled construction. In the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation bought the site for the reservoir. The U.S.

Geological Survey had reported on the site before construction at the request of the Reclamation Service and predicted that there would be no serious leaking. Soon work began on what the agency termed the HONDO PROJECT HAER No. (Page 2) Hondo Reservoir. The reservoir was completed by but it was never completely filled because it was located over a large limestone formation that allowed water to leak through the bottom. Leakage was so great it reached a maximum of 200 cubic feet/second, making the reservoir worthless. After repeated efforts to stem the leakage, the reservoir was finally abandoned. For several years, the canal system built with the project was used for irrigation purposes, but now it remains virtually abandoned.

The failure of the Hondo Project was a valuable lesson for the Reclamation Service in its early years. Fortunately, the total cost of the project was only one-third of 1 percent of Reclamation Service expenditures between and The site has been undisturbed since its construction, and the structures are well preserved.

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER NM-21. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Brown, Byron, Roswell, New Mexico. Interview by field team, June Davis, Arthur Powell. Irrigation Works Constructed by the United States Government. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Davis, Arthur Powell and Herbert M. Wilson. Irrigation Engineering. 7th ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Fisher, Cassius A. Preliminary Report on the Geology and Underground Waters of the Roswell Artesian Area, New Mexico. Water Supply Paper No. U.S. Department of the Interior. Geological Survey. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, Lingle, Robert T. and Dee Linford. The Pecos River Commission of New Mexico and Texas. Santa Fe: Rydal Press, Mourant, Walter A. Water Resources and Geology of the Rio Hondo Drainage Basin, Chaves, Lincoln, and Otero Counties, New Mexico.

New Mexico State Engineer Technical Report No. 28. Santa Fe: New Mexico State Engineer, Newell, Chief Engineer. Annual Reports of the Reclamation Service. Second through Tenth. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, Shinkle, James D. Fifty Years of Roswell History Roswell, NM: Hall-Poorbaugh Press, Shinkle, James D., Roswell, New Mexico. Interview by field team, June 26, 1 Arthur Powell Davis, Irrigation Works Constructed by the United States Government (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., HONDO PROJECT HAER No. (Page 3) U.S. Congress, 2nd session. House Document No. Letter from the Chief of Engineers, Department of the Army on a Survey of Rio Hondo at Roswell, New Mexico. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, Historians: Steve Rae and T. Lindsay Baker, June and October 21,

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER NM-21. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Hondo Project site was inventoried for the Historic American Engineering Record as part of the Southwest Water Resources Project, a joint project with the Texas Tech Water Resources Center. The survey was subsequently published as Water for the Southwest: Historical Survey and Guide to Historic Sites by the American Society of Civil Engineers in September