Geography
The approximate elevation of Las Cruces is 3,908 feet (1,191 m) above sea level.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 52.2 square miles (135 km2), of which 52.1 square miles (135 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) (0.25%) is water.
Las Cruces is the center of the Organ Caldera, the Doña Ana Mountains and the Organ Mountains are its margins. Its major eruption was 32 Ma.
Dona Ana County lies within the Chihuahuan Desert ecoregion, and the vegetation surrounding the built portions of the city are typical of this setting; it includes Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata), Soaptree (Yucca elata), Tarbush (Flourensia cernua), Broom Dalea (Psorothamnus scoparius), and various desert grasses such as Tobosa (Hilaria mutica or Pleuraphis mutica) and Black Grama (Bouteloua eriopoda).
The Rio Grande bisects the Mesilla Valley and Las Cruces proper, supplying irrigation water for the intensive agriculture surrounding the city. Prior to farming and ranching, desert shrub vegetation extended into the valley from the adjacent deserts, including extensive stands of Tornillo (Prosopis pubescens) and Catclaw Acacia (Acacia greggii). Desert grasslands extend in large part between the edges of Las Cruces and the lower slopes of the nearby Organ and Robledo Mountains, where grasses and assorted shrubs and cacti dominate large areas of this mostly rangeland as well as the occasional large-lot subdivision housing.
The desert and desert grassland uplands surrounding both sides of the Mesilla Valley are often dissected with arroyos, which are dry streams that often carry water following heavy thunderstorms. These arroyos often contain scattered small trees, and they serve as wildlife corridors between Las Cruces' urban areas and adjacent deserts or mountains.
Read more about this topic: Las Cruces, New Mexico
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