This page in our free multimedia library features drone-captured photos of the Rio Grande, near Caballo Dam in southern New Mexico.
The Rio Grande begins in the San Juan Mountains and travels some 1,900 miles through Colorado, New Mexico and along the border between Texas and Mexico.
Caballo Dam and Reservoir are located about 25 miles downstream from Elephant Butte Dam. Caballo is an earthfill dam that is 96 feet high and 4,590 feet long. The reservoir has a capacity of 343,990 acre-feet. “Water discharged from the Elephant Butte Powerplant during winter power generation is impounded at Caballo Dam for irrigation use during the summer,” according to the Bureau of Reclamation.
Like the Colorado River, the Rio Grande’s flow relies on the mountain snowpack and has been depleted by warming temperatures (see this story by Water Desk grantees Jim Robbins and Ted Wood for more on climate change’s impact).
Our multimedia library contains other aerial and ground-based photos of the Rio Grande:
Rio Grande Gorge (flight), May-June 2024
Rio Grande Gorge (ground), June 2024
Rio Grande Gorge (drone/ground), August 2022
Rio Grande and Cochiti Lake aerials, June 2024
San Luis Valley and Rio Grande aerials, May 2024
Rio Grande headwaters aerials, May 2024
Rio Grande near San Antonio, N.M., August 2022
Rio Grande near Fort Craig, N.M. August 2022
Rio Grande near Albuquerque, June 2024
Rio Grande near Las Cruces, March 2026
| Date | March 27, 2026 |
| Location | Near Caballo Dam, New Mexico (map) |
| Credit | Mitch Tobin/The Water Desk |
| Rights | Free to reuse under Creative Commons license. |
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