Navajo Lake

Navajo Lake
Navajo Lake
	A view of Navajo Lake from Navajo Lake State Park.
	Navajo Lake Navajo Lake Navajo Lake
Location	Rio Arriba / San Juan counties in New Mexico;; Archuleta County in Colorado, United States
Coordinates	36°50′52″N 107°37′07″W / 36.84778°N 107.61861°W
Type	reservoir
Primary inflows	San Juan River, Piedra River
Primary outflows	San Juan River
Catchment area	3,190 sq mi (8,300 km2)
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	15,600 acres (63 km2)
Water volume	1,708,600 acre⋅ft (2.1075 km3)
Surface elevation	6,085 ft (1,855 m)

Navajo Lake is a reservoir located in San Juan County and Rio Arriba County^[1] in northwestern New Mexico, in the southwestern United States. Portions of the reservoir extend into Archuleta County in southern Colorado. The lake is part of the Colorado River Storage Project, which here manages the upper reaches of the San Juan River, storing and releasing water that is used locally for irrigation, or ultimately reaching the Colorado River in Utah. Water is impounded in Navajo Lake by the earth- and rock-filled Navajo Dam, 3,800 feet (1,200 m) long and 400 feet (120 m) high, completed in 1962. The 15,600-acre (63 km²) lake is over 25 miles (40 km) long and lies at an elevation of up to 6,085 feet (1,855 m).

The construction of the dam and the resulting lake flooded and destroyed one of the Navajos' most sacred sites.^[2]

The Lake and associated shoreline areas near the dam in New Mexico and the river shorelines below the dam are part of New Mexico's Navajo Lake State Park, while the Portion of the shoreline and portion of the lake that is located in Colorado make up Navajo State Park which is managed as part of the Colorado State Parks system. The lake has smallmouth bass, black crappie, northern pike, channel catfish, and trout. The waters of Navajo Lake forced hundreds of families to leave their homes and communities.^[3] The four communities affected were Los Arboles, Los Pinos, Rose and Los Martinez.^[3] The 1.7 million acre-foot reservoir displaced an unknown amount of farms and ranches.^[3] It has been estimated that almost 200 families had to move.^[3] Some families had been here nearly 80–90 years.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Navajo Lake
^ Linford, Laurance. Navajo Places. History, Legend, Landscape. University of Utah Press. Salt Lake City: 2000.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Romeo, Jonathan. "Researchers record the stories of communities inundated by Navajo Lake". Durango Herald. Retrieved May 2, 2022.

External links

Media related to Navajo Lake at Wikimedia Commons

Navajo Lake State Park

[gnis-1] U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Navajo Lake

[2] Linford, Laurance. Navajo Places. History, Legend, Landscape. University of Utah Press. Salt Lake City: 2000.

[Romeo-3] Romeo, Jonathan. "Researchers record the stories of communities inundated by Navajo Lake". Durango Herald. Retrieved May 2, 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Colorado River Storage Project Infrastructure
Dams	Fontenelle Dam Glen Canyon Dam Flaming Gorge Dam Navajo Dam Crystal Dam Morrow Point Dam Blue Mesa Dam
Reservoirs	Fontenelle Reservoir Lake Powell Flaming Gorge Reservoir Navajo Lake Crystal Reservoir Morrow Point Reservoir Blue Mesa Reservoir
Water resources projects	Animas-La Plata Water Project Bostwick Park Project Central Utah Project Dallas Creek Project Dolores Project Eden Project Emery County Project Florida Project Hammond Project La Barge Project Lyman Project Navajo Indian Irrigation Project Paonia Project Pine River Project San Juan–Chama Project Seedskadee Project Silt Project Smith Fork Project
Rivers	Colorado River Green River Gunnison River San Juan River

v t e Protected areas of New Mexico
National Parks	Carlsbad Caverns White Sands
National Historical Parks	Chaco Culture Manhattan Project Pecos
National monuments	Aztec Ruins Bandelier Capulin Volcano El Malpais El Morro Fort Union Gila Cliff Dwellings Petroglyph Salinas Pueblo Missions
National Recreation Areas	Jemez (USFS)
National Trails	Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Old Spanish Trail Santa Fe Trail
National Forests	Apache–Sitgreaves Carson Cibola Coronado Gila Lincoln Santa Fe
National Grasslands	Kiowa
National Wildlife Refuges	Bitter Lake Bosque del Apache Grulla Las Vegas Maxwell San Andres Sevilleta Valle de Oro
National Conservation Areas	El Malpais Fort Stanton–Snowy River Cave
BLM National Monuments	Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks Prehistoric Trackways Rio Grande del Norte
National Natural Landmarks	List of National Natural Landmarks in New Mexico
National Preserves	Valles Caldera
Wilderness	Aldo Leopold Apache Kid Bandelier Bisti/De-Na-Zin Blue Range Bosque del Apache Capitan Mountains Carlsbad Caverns Cebolla Chama River Canyon Columbine–Hondo Cruces Basin Dome Gila Latir Peak Manzano Mountain Ojito Pecos Sabinoso Salt Creek San Pedro Parks Sandia Mountain West Malpais Wheeler Peak White Mountain Withington
Wild and Scenic Rivers	East Fork Jemez River Pecos River Red River Rio Chama Rio Grande
State Parks	Bluewater Lake Bottomless Lakes Brantley Lake Caballo Lake Cerrillos Hills Cimarron Canyon City of Rocks Clayton Lake Conchas Lake Coyote Creek Eagle Nest Lake El Vado Lake Elephant Butte Lake Fenton Lake Heron Lake Hyde Memorial Leasburg Dam Living Desert Zoo and Gardens Manzano Mountains Mesilla Valley Bosque Morphy Lake Navajo Lake Oasis Oliver Lee Memorial Pancho Villa Percha Dam Rio Grande Nature Center Rockhound Santa Rosa Lake Storrie Lake Sugarite Canyon Sumner Lake Ute Lake Villanueva
New Mexico Department of Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources

See also

References

External links