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For sustaining wetland and riparian ecosystems at Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, water is the critical resource.  As described in more detail below, the park relies on three different sources: 

• treated wastewater,
• groundwater, and
• irrigation water from the Rio Grande.

Current Water Conditions

(4 Nov 2024)  After being off for almost a month, water deliveries to the park from the Bustamante Plant resumed 3 November.  The wetland cells are refilling, and flows are advancing in the old river channel.  

In the early years of the wetland project at Rio Bosque, the only available source of water was treated wastewater.  It was often only available for 3 to 3.5 months in late fall and early winter.  The rest of the year, including throughout the growing season, the park was completely dry. 

In recent years, we have been able to secure additional water for the park, thanks to the help of our partners, especially and (El Paso #1). 

Today, instead of just one water source, with water consistently available only in late fall and early winter, the park now has multiple sources, and some water is available at all times of the year. 

The availability of water during the growing season has greatly accelerated the development of wetland and riparian ecosystems at Rio Bosque Wetlands Park. 

The park's current water sources include:

Treated Wastewater

El Paso Water’s Roberto R. Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant, located immediately north of the park, is the main source of water for Rio Bosque.  Prior to May 2015, treated wastewater from the plant was delivered to the park via the Riverside Intercepting Drain, an irrigation drain immediately west of the plant and the park.  Since May 2015, treated wastewater has been delivered to the park via a pipeline from the Bustamante Plant that El Paso Water installed in 2014-15. 

In late fall and early winter, enough treated wastewater is available to meet all of the park’s water needs, and Rio Bosque’s wetland cells are fully flooded.  Starting in 2015, under a Memorandum of Agreement between El Paso Water and El Paso #1, some treated wastewater (400 acre-feet/month) has also been delivered to the park from May through September.  During this time period, the wetland cells are partly flooded. 

Groundwater

The park has four wells that pump groundwater.  Two use electric-powered pumps, and two use windmills.  The wells are not used in late fall and early winter, when treated wastewater meets all of the park’s water needs, but they are used the rest of the year.  The electric-powered wells ensure a continuous flow of water in the re-built river channel that winds through the park.  This channel follows the alignment of the Rio Grande before the river was channelized in the 1930s.  The windmills pump water to two areas in the park’s wetland cells that otherwise would be dry during all or most of the growing season. 

Rio Grande Water

Some 348.26 acres within Rio Bosque Wetlands Park are classified as irrigable land with water rights.  Since 2017, the park has been able to receive deliveries of Rio Grande Project irrigation water during the irrigation season.  El Paso #1 delivers this water via a turnout on the Riverside Canal, the large irrigation canal on the east side of the park.  The water is used to provide pulses of higher flow in the re-built river channel during spring (mimicking high flows from spring snowmelt) and to intermittently flood larger areas in the wetland cells during summer. 

Each year, the amount of river water available and the time period when it is available vary depending on water volumes in storage in upstream reservoirs.