The dam is a storage and regulating reservoir, and diverts water into the main canal of the Carlsbad Project, an irrigation scheme.

On average there is only 12.5 inches (320 mm) of precipitation annually, but storms may bring torrential rainfall, creating flash floods.

[2] A group of local ranchers that included Charles B. Eddy and Pat Garrett[a] saw a commercial opportunity in irrigating the valley and selling or leasing their land to settlers.

They created an irrigation company and obtained funding from outside financiers including James John Hagerman, who had made a fortune from the Mollie Gibson silver mine in Colorado.

Hagerman and his associates became the dominant owners, reorganized the company, started a railroad and promoted a new town at first called Eddy, later changed to Carlsbad.

The flume and canals also were repaired in time for the 1894 growing season, although the farmers had difficulty finding crops suited to the soil and climate.

Mark Hufstetler and Lon Johnson write that the massive, yet graceful, flume, "was a source of pride for the company and the Carlsbad community."

Soon after the flume had been completed, in October 1904 there was another flash flood in the Pecos, causing great damage to the dam, the canals, the highway and railroad bridges.

Avalon remained an earthen dam erected atop a rock-filled foundation, but this time Federal engineers added a thin, concrete and steel core wall and enlarged the spillways to withstand future flooding.

[3] The transfer from federal to local control took place on October 1, 1949, beginning yet another chapter in the story of irrigation in the Pecos River Valley.

The Carlsbad Irrigation District manages it as a recreation facility, and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish stocks the reservoir and provides law enforcement.

[4] Notes Citations Sources This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service.