The rising waters of the Rio Grande overflowed onto La Llorona Park in Las Cruces following heavy rains and flash flooding a day earlier from the remnants of Hurricane Polo that drenched Southern New Mexico.
The Las Cruces Parks and Recreation Department and city park rangers closed La Llorona Park on Wednesday, Sept. 30, as a precaution due to the rising water levels from the Rio Grande, the Las Cruces Police Department said.
Flash flooding had caused the ordered evacuation of small communities upriver in the Hatch Valley on Tuesday, Sept. 29. The evacuation orders were all lifted by Wednesday, Sept. 30.
"Recent rain and runoff have caused water levels to increase, creating
potentially dangerous and life-threatening conditions in and around the park," the Las Cruces Police Department said in a Facebook post.
Dirt-colored water covers sections of the popular riverside park in a photo released by Las Cruces police.
The park sits next to the Rio Grande near West Picacho Avenue and is named after the spooky Mexican legend of La Llorona, the ghostly weeping woman searching for her drowned children. The park has a children's playground and trails along the riverbanks.
Las Cruces residents and visitors are advised by police to stay out of the park until further notice and not to attempt to cross floodwaters.
Could Rio Grande overflow in El Paso?
The El Paso Times has reached out to the International Boundary and Water Commission to find out if there are any concerns regarding Rio Grande water levels downstream in the El Paso-Juárez area.
The last time the Rio Grande had an overflow in El Paso was during the heavy monsoon rains and citywide flooding during Storm 2006, when El Paso received up to 10 inches of rain in a week and the river reached its highest level since 1912, according to IBWC archives. The amount of recent rain was far, far less than in 2006.
The river in El Paso-Juárez is contained in a concrete channel constructed as part of the Rio Grande Rectification Project of the 1930s.
El Paso city spokeswoman Laura Cruz-Acosta referred questions to the International Boundary and Water Commission.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Rio Grande overflows at Las Cruces park as river water heads south
