Elephant Butte Dam, Historic dam in Sierra County, United States.

Elephant Butte Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Rio Grande near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Its pale grey face is weathered with faint vertical streaks, and a row of evenly spaced posts carries a railing along the straight crest. Near the right end of the base, a low white building with a dark sloped roof sits directly on the water.

Congress authorized the dam on February 25, 1905, under the Newlands Reclamation Act, and construction began in 1911; the reservoir filled in 1915–16. At its peak about 3,500 workers lived in two segregated camps, Upper and Lower. The Victorio Land and Cattle Co. fought a court battle over its land, which the government condemned and settled at $6.66 per acre.

The dam takes its name from Elephant Butte, a volcanic plug whose eroded core resembles an elephant lying on its side; the rock is an island in the reservoir except at low water, when an isthmus links it to land. The nearby town of Elephant Butte was named for the same formation. The dam itself was first called Engle Dam after the railroad stop at Engle, named for engineer R.L. Engle.

The dam lies about 130 miles (210 km) downstream of Albuquerque, northeast of Truth or Consequences, where the Rio Grande cuts through a mountainous basin. The concrete crest carries a railing between evenly spaced posts, and a low white building with a dark sloped roof sits at the base near the right end. Expect desert sun and heat most of the year.

The power plant was added in 1940, yet the spillway operated fully only three times across more than 80 years of operation. This rarity shows how dry the region typically is and how carefully water must be managed.