After Decades Of Normal Flow, The Rio Grande Has Dried Up In Albuerquque Twice Since 2022

[hatrack]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—On a late July morning, a snapping turtle, about 18 inches in length, sat solemnly in a dry riverbed where the Rio Grande normally flows here. The aquatic reptile was one of few signs of life on a river that’s usually buzzing with various species of fish, ducks, insects and other animals. Fast forward to one crisp day in mid-October, and muddy-hued water, typical for this stretch of the Rio Grande, once again flowed downstream past Albuquerque’s Old Town area. Ducks swam near a sandbar, and things seemed more or less back to normal after several weeks of replenishing rains in the region. But with the river repeatedly running dry in recent years after decades in which it rarely did, it’s clear that the megadrought plaguing the Southwest will present new challenges to the river and the life that depends on it.

This summer, Albuquerque’s stretch of the Rio Grande went dry for about 45 days over six unique drying events from mid-July to mid-September—more than any year in recent history—and other northern reaches of the river experienced similar conditions. Albuquerque’s section of the Rio experienced intermittent temporary flows throughout this period due to rain, but they were short-lived. Though many of the area’s plants and animals come equipped with special adaptations that help them deal with dry spells, experts say that this kind of extended desiccation of the river can have major impacts on their behavior and survival. Still, they’re not sure about the long-term implications.

In July 2022, a 5-mile stretch of Albuquerque’s Rio Grande ran dry for the first time in 40 years, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory. About 20 miles south of Albuquerque, 12 miles of the river near Los Lunas also went dry. This year, Albuquerque’s stretch of river ran dry on July 13, and by mid-August, about 11 miles of river were empty of water throughout the city. Other areas of the Middle Rio Grande system, a 120-mile section of river that stretches from Cochiti Dam to Elephant Butte Dam, also suffered significant drying in 2025. This included about 40 miles in the San Acacia reach near Socorro and 18 miles in the Isleta reach near Belen, KUNM reported.

According to NASA, drying events are not uncommon along the 1,885-mile-long Rio Grande, which flows from Colorado’s San Juan Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico—hundreds of miles of the lower river often dry out. In fact, American Rivers named the lower Rio Grande—the stretch between Del Rio, Texas and the Gulf—as the fifth-most endangered river in the country in 2025. However, NASA states that drying events are now happening earlier and farther north as the Southwest grapples with its worst megadrought in 1,200 years, driven largely by weak snowpack, lack of rain and high water demand. In 2025, New Mexico’s water shortage deepened as the flow it is required to deliver to Texas under the Rio Grande Compact limited its ability to store river water passing through the state in reservoirs.

EDIT

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02122025/rio-grande-running-dry-animals-ecosystems/

[Deuxcents]

1. Can't remember where I heard it but some talking head said water was gonna become more valuable than gold

The comment was made when discussing the possibility of moving Tehran, Iran, because of extreme drought there and in other parts of the country. We have our water supply issues, too, but we need leadership to recognize the importance of doing something about it.

[jfz9580m]

2. This won't help either

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-ecological-cost-of-ai-is-much-higher-than-you-think/

The issue of who gets water and who doesn’t was highlighted during Taiwan’s two most recent drought crises, in 2021 and 2023, in which semiconductor manufacturers fell into direct competition with Taiwanese farmers. In 2021, as Taiwan’s reservoirs dropped to record low levels, fabs in Taichung and further south were ordered to reduce their water consumption by 15%. TSMC had to truck water from the north of the island to its fabs in the drought-stricken south to keep them running. In 2023, fabs in southern Taiwan had to reduce their water consumption again by 10%.

I so don’t get these accelerationist dipshits . They seem to make every problem worse.