The United States Army Corps of Engineers has been authorized to plan the future development, utilization and conservation of water and related land resources in the vicinity of El Paso, Texas, which includes Las Cruces, New Mexico. From 1936 to 1939 the Soil Conservation Service undertook extensive flood control efforts on the east mesa of Las Cruces. This work was in specific response to devastating floods of August 1935, caused by runoff from the Organ Mountains to the east. It was also representative of a national effort to address watershed management issues such as soil erosion, proper grazing practices, and flood control. With the establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps camp on the east mesa, the Soil Conservation Service undertook a multifaceted project that, in addition to the seven earthen detention dams on which this report is focused, included livestock exclusion, revegetation, rodent control, and a variety of landworks for the purpose of water diversion, retention, and spreading in an effort to slow and control the water flow on the east mesa. The Bureau of Land Management currently owns the largest of the dams, the Alameda. The land on which the remaining six are appurtenances was leased in 2006 to the City of Las Cruces by the State of New Mexico, for the purpose of public and private development. The Bureau of Land Management and the City thus have maintenance responsibility for these dams. The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer continues to assess their physical integrity, with specific attention to the hazard potential should one or more of the dams fail. Van Citters Historic Preservation inventoried the seven earthen detention dams, called the Alameda, North Fork, South Fork, Little, Escondido, McClernon, and Redwood. The dams were built on either the Alameda or Las Cruces arroyo systems. While specific details of construction vary, they all consist of an earthen embankment; a conduit through the center of the embankment with inlet and outlet works; and more or less extensively built emergency spillways. A simple material pallet included concrete, cobble, wire mesh, corrugated pipe, light and heavy gauge rail, and steel tubes. These seven dams meet the National Register of Historic Places Criterion A, for association with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history, and Criterion C, because they embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction. The dams continue to retain integrity. Therefore, Van Citters Historic Preservation recommends them as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.