A valuable resource in New Mexico was close to being lost because of neglect. That resource was irrigation district records. A grant from the Water Resources Research Institute to collect Elephant Butte Irrigation District noncurrent records allowed New Mexico State University History Department, in conjunction with the University Archives, to preserve these records for all time. Tn addition, the project will serve as a model for preserving irrigation and conservancy district records throughout New Mexico and the West.

In July 1984 Elephant Butte Irrigation District noncurrent records were placed in the Rio Grande Historical Collections, located in the New Mexico State University Library. Once housed in the archives, the records went through an archival process of cleaning, arranging and processing. When these tasks were completed, a guide to the collection was compiled to aid researchers.

Research potential from the Elephant Butte Irrigation District records will draw people from many disciplines. At their disposal will be numerous boxes of well-organized, quickly accessible records.