Oct. 18--LA MESA -- As horses grazed in a nearby grass pasture and bright New Mexico clouds sailed overhead, Elephant Butte Irrigation District Manager Gary Esslinger cranked open a metal chute, allowing water to gush into a 2-foot-diameter pipe alongside an irrigation canal.

As the water poured in, a loud buzzing erupted from inside a concrete room, set into the ground next to the waterway. It was the sound of an electric generator springing into motion. Esslinger was showing off the district's latest experiment: a foray into hydroelectric power.

Esslinger said the idea came to him about a year ago, on a return trip from a conference that highlighted the tie between water and power production. He said he realized the district could tap into a source of energy that exists because of its geographical make-up. As water flows from the northernmost part, at Caballo Reservoir, to its southernmost part in Sunland Park, it gains speed because of the drop in elevation.

To keep the flow from seriously eroding the dirt banks of the waterways, the federal government, when building the system in the early 1900s, constructed a series of what are called "drop stations," structures aimed at slowing the water. Esslinger there are about 100 of these throughout the district. And each has the potential to generate electricity -- possibly as much as 1.5 megawatts at a given time, if working altogether during irrigation months.

Esslinger said the district stands to gain from generating its own

power because it could sell electricity to El Paso Electric Co. Revenue would then go back into the district, reducing the costs farmers would have to pay for water delivery. Also, he said the district is looking into a way to power farmers' drip irrigation systems with the generated power. Plus, he said, it's alternative energy, at the forefront of the debate about energy needs these days.

Earlier this week, Esslinger demonstrated the system, by plugging in an electric fan, which whirred into motion

"There's a lot of potential here," he said. "I'm not saying this is the only answer, but it's EBID's attempt to try to compete and be innovative in our approach."

By comparison, the El Paso Electric-owned Rio Grande Power Station, located in Sunland Park, generates about 229 megawatts, according to Teresa Souza, spokeswoman for the company. The plant is mid-sized among those owned by the company.

The district built its test generator at Drop Station No. 8 on the West Side Canal, about a mile northwest of La Mesa. Esslinger said the fifth prototype -- a pipe outfitted with a 23-inch propeller that acts as a turbine -- was tested this week.