Hackberry Dam viewed from auxiliary spillway showing protected area and homes downstream.

Hackberry Dam Holds Back Deluge

Constructed by NRCS in 1967, the Hackberry dam was recently credited with preventing flood damage to 377 homes valued at $3,268,000 resulting from a 100-year storm that hit Carlsbad and Happy Valley, New Mexico. The Hackberry Watershed District falls under the umbrella of the Carlsbad Soil and Water Conservation District. “By holding back water coursing down Dark Canyon, the dam saved roads, septic systems, water and gas lines, and other utilities,” said Bill See, district manager. “If it weren’t for the Hackberry, the flooding would have been a lot worse and extended over a wider area around Carlsbad,” he added. The Hackberry Draw Watershed and the rehabilitation of its dams were made a priority under the Agriculture Appropriations Act of 1999. NRCS engineers have stressed that the flood diversion dams continue to be safe and in working condition even during rehabilitation that began last month. The Hackberry dam is part of a flood control system that includes two other floodwater dams, one-half mile of channel, and 5 miles of floodwater diversion.
(from an article by Stella Davis, staff writer for the Carlsbad Current-Argus.)