Rio Grande floodway/spillway update [PHOTOS]

Yesterday me and my wife had a chance to drive over the same Rio Grande floodway/spillway that I mentioned in a previous post. She took all of the photos for me, and I think they came out great.

First up is the westward facing view as we were traveling south over the spillway. You can see in the first photo there was some overflow outside the floodway already. That little outcropping/peninsula was supposed to be the outer perimeter for this side with a straight line running West to the bridge.

West Side 01

In this next photo, you can see more of where the overflow happened, as well as a the top of a STOP sign for a street that was running parallel to the floodway before it broke through.

West Side 02

This next photo is about 1/4 of the way over the bridge. If you click to enlarge, you can see that’s a house on top of a hill on the right side that’s just barely above the water!

West Side 03

Here is about the halfway point…

West Side 04

This next photo caught a few people who were lining up on the access roads to fish off the overflow. People are still lining up despite the fact that local health departments have been running radio and TV ads telling people not to eat or fish out of the overflow because it is tainted with sewage from Mexico. This ain’t the Rio Grande, folks! It’s overflow water from Mexico and Falcon Dam!

West Side 05

This next set is the “return”, heading north and facing eastward. The first photo shows part of the buildup along the side of the floodway/spillway…

East Side 01

This next photo shows how close to the edge the water is. That “access road” on the side was once a vantage point to look down into the empty valley with.

East Side 02

Starting across…

East Side 03

Here you can see one tree that is still managing to keep it’s top above water. There were tall trees all along this area, and it will be interesting to see if any survived.

East Side 04

Same tree, but a little further along.

East Side 05

Two more trees that were keeping their tops dry.

East Side 06

A closer photo of the trees above water.

East Side 07

Further along heading North. Fortunately the power lines were set high enough so that even if the floodway overflowed, they would be undisturbed.

East Side 08

Nearing the end of the floodway/spillway.

East Side 09

And finally looking back over the spillway.

East Side 10

The water is still pretty near the spillway’s peak, but today was the last day we are expecting rain down here, so hopefully this monster will start to drain soon. The best photos will be the “after” so everyone can see what it looked like originally.

Thanks again to my beautiful wife (who always takes better photos than I do)!