Alamogordo City Manager Brian Stockwell says he will recommend keeping Bonito Lake open for fishing rather than closing it off, a reversal that comes weeks after his own proposal to build up to $1 million in security fencing around the reservoir sparked an outcry. The shift follows a community forum at Otero Arts that drew elected leaders, county managers, and a crowd large enough that its broadcast was watched by more than 770 people. Mayor Sharon McDonald says the response has stretched far beyond city limits.
“The public response regarding Bonito Lake has been remarkable,” McDonald said, according to 2nd Life Media Alamogordo Town News. McDonald said she has read every email and reviewed every message sent to her on the issue, and that they arrived not just from Alamogordo but from people across New Mexico and as far away as Texas. The forum, co-hosted by Alamogordo Town News and KALHRadio.org, gave residents a chance to question officials directly after Stockwell's August 25 agenda item proposed ending the city's Open Gate access arrangement altogether.
What Sparked the Backlash
That original proposal argued Alamogordo lacked the municipal funds for full recreational restoration at the lake and instead recommended securing the reservoir behind fencing, according to the same outlet's reporting. Critics were quick to note that public fishing access had already been protected through a seven-year Open Gate Access Program agreement between the city and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, a deal that runs through March 31, 2028, per a statement from the department reported by Grant County Beat. The state legislature had also approved Senate Bill 240 in March 2026, appropriating $250,000 specifically for shoreline and day-use improvements at Bonito Lake after Alamogordo itself requested the funds — money that went unmentioned in the closure report.
Facing that pushback, the city commission tabled Stockwell's original measure until September 22. Now Stockwell says he will bring five recommendations to the commission at that meeting, including a plan to construct security fencing only around the dam structure and ancillary facilities rather than the lake itself. The city will post signage warning that Bonito Lake remains a primary municipal water source, and visitors entering city property will do so at their own risk.
Regional Talks and a Six-Month Clock
Alamogordo also plans to open discussions with New Mexico, Otero County, Lincoln County, and Ruidoso officials about how to balance recreation with water-supply protection, and Stockwell has proposed a six-month deadline to report the results of those regional talks back to the commission. McDonald said she is encouraged by support from county officials and state legislators for keeping the lake open, noting that Sen. Townsend and other regional legislative representatives have agreed to convene colleagues and state agencies on the matter.
The city plans to continue construction of its remaining debris-flow protection projects even as talks continue. Officials have cautioned that former parking areas near the lake remain subject to mud flows that could trap vehicles during storms, and that surrounding detention basins, ponds, and drainage systems built to intercept debris still make the area hazardous.
A Reservoir With a Complicated History
Alamogordo purchased Bonito Lake in the 1950s as a water source, and the reservoir was roughly 40 percent silted in by the 1990s even before its more recent troubles. The lake reopened to shoreline fishing in May 2024 under the Open Gate agreement following a 12-year closure, but it was closed again after the 2023 fires and debris flows, and briefly shut down once more when the lightning-ignited Blue 2 Fire burned more than 7,500 acres across the surrounding White Mountain Wilderness in June 2024, according to the Village of Ruidoso Municipal Government. Firefighting crews drew water directly from the lake to help contain that blaze.
The reservoir's larger significance traces back to the 2012 Little Bear Fire, which burned 44,330 acres and severely silted the lake, according to a U.S. Geological Survey assessment. Before that fire, Bonito Lake supplied roughly 60 percent of the municipal water used by Alamogordo and nearby Holloman Air Force Base. With that surface water unavailable, the city was forced to pump and desalinate brackish groundwater from the Tularosa Basin more than 20 miles away at higher cost, a strain the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has documented is not considered a viable long-term solution on its own. In 2020, the EPA granted New Mexico a special exception under Safe Drinking Water Act rules so that Drinking Water State Revolving Funds could finance the Bonito Lake Dam Restoration Project, and water began flowing consistently to Alamogordo again after that restoration work concluded this year.
Balancing Water Security With Recreation
City officials have framed Alamogordo's drinking water supply as Stockwell's top priority throughout the debate. Yet the tension between that priority and recreational access is not new: in 2024, the city commission unanimously adopted a Parks and Recreation Master Plan that formally designated Bonito Lake as both a critical drinking water utility and a regional recreational destination, according to Alamogordo Town News. That dual designation now sits alongside a separate, citywide financial burden — a $160.4 million backlog of water system infrastructure repairs, including decaying mainlines and a deteriorating 5-million-gallon storage tank, disclosed by city officials in 2024.
McDonald, who took office in January 2026 as Alamogordo's first African American mayor after previously serving as District 5 City Commissioner and Mayor Pro Tem, campaigned on a platform of greater transparency and regional public involvement. She said the recent outpouring shows that approach is paying off. “The public's voices are being heard,” McDonald said. She said she plans to keep listening and to work toward protecting Alamogordo's water supply while preserving the lake's role in fishing, recreation, and family traditions.
What Happens Next
The Alamogordo City Commission is set to consider Stockwell's revised recommendations on September 22. The public is encouraged to attend that meeting and make public comment before commissioners vote on the fencing, signage, and regional-talks plan.
