Summer’s here and the time is right for the waters of Elephant Butte

Now that the unofficial opening weekend of summer has come and gone with Memorial Day, when about 100,000 people descended on Elephant Butte Lake State Park, it’s a great time to visit the state’s largest body of water.

With a water level higher than it has been in years, the lake is a glittering, beckoning oasis loaded with all types of recreational opportunities for everybody in the family, said Beth Wojahn, spokeswoman for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department.

With a water surface area of almost 12,600 acres, the water level sits at about 4,340 feet, creating a storage amount of just under 500,000 acre-feet, which is only a quarter of capacity but the most since 2011, she said.

But with such a large body of water, there is plenty of space, even on holiday weekends, Wojahn said.

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