The Rio Grande passes west of Las Cruces proper and supplies irrigation water to the valley’s farms. Since the 1890s, when water rights were introduced, it has flowed through Las Cruces for much of the year, but drought has shortened the season in recent years. Nineteenth-century writers often called it the Del Norte.
Glossary · Land & Water
Rio Grande
The river that runs west of Las Cruces and waters the valley; in old accounts, the Del Norte.