2019 Map of Tornillo

About this map

The Rio Grande serves as the defining international boundary between the United States and Mexico in this section of El Paso County. The landscape is heavily defined by an intricate network of water management features designed for the arid valley floor, including the Tornillo Canal, Upper Tornillo Drain, and the Tornillo Intercepting Drain Number One. These systems support the agricultural settlements of Tornillo and Alamo Alto, where local roads like Alameda Ave and Oil Mill Rd hint at the area's economic foundations. To the northeast, the terrain rises sharply away from the river valley toward the foothills, bisected by the modern corridor of Interstate 10. Small water bodies like Hideaway Lakes and County Line Lakes dot the lowland near the river, while the Rio Grande Border Intercepting Drain runs parallel to the international line, illustrating the complex engineering required to manage the borderlands' hydrology.