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Reclamation has a policy to develop and implement Resource Management Plans (RMP) for all of the land and water areas under its jurisdiction. The Navajo Unit (Navajo Dam and Reservoir) of the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) was given a high priority for an RMP due to increasing and conflicting demands on the area’s resources, and the complexity of resource management issues at the reservoir. The RMP is needed to guide the long-term management of Reclamation lands and resources associated with the Navajo Unit, in a manner which protects Reclamation project purposes, meets the needs of the nation and the public, protects and/or improves area resources, complies with applicable laws and regulations, and coordinates with other entities’ management direction.

The Navajo Unit is located in northwest New Mexico and southwest Colorado . The dam is on the San Juan River in New Mexico , about 50 miles east of Farmington , New Mexico . The reservoir extends about 35 miles up the San Juan River from the dam, including about 7 miles into Colorado . About 85 percent of the reservoir area is in New Mexico and 15 percent is in Colorado . The Colorado portion of the reservoir area lies within the boundaries of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s (SUIT) reservation. The reservoir area is contained within two state parks: New Mexico ’s Navajo Lake State Park and Colorado ’s Navajo State Park .

The reservoir area covers about 38,000 acres which includes the reservoir basin and adjacent and nearby lands under Reclamation’s jurisdiction. At the normal reservoir elevation of 6,085 feet, the reservoir has a water surface area of about 15,600 acres and contains about 1,709,000 acre-feet of water. Outside of the reservoir basin there are about 22,400 acres of land under Reclamation jurisdiction.

The Navajo Unit is one of four initial units of the CRSP authorized by the Colorado River Storage Project Act of April 11, 1956 (Ch. 70 Stat.105). The purposes of the CRSP from Section 1 of the Act include:

• Regulating the flow of the Colorado River [and its tributaries, including the San Juan River ]
• Storing water for beneficial consumptive use in the Upper Colorado River Basin
• Reclamation of arid and semiarid land
• Flood control, and
• Generation of hydroelectric power, incident to the above purposes.

Section 8 of that Act, directed the Secretary of the Interior to investigate, plan, construct, operate, and maintain:

• Public recreational facilities on project lands to conserve the scenery, the natural, historic and archeological objects, and the wildlife on said lands and to provide for public use and enjoyment of the same and the water areas created by these projects by such means as are consistent with the primary purposes of said projects, and
• Facilities to mitigate losses of, and improve conditions for, the propagation of fish and wildlife.

The Secretary was further authorized to obtain the necessary lands for the Section 8 facilities and to convey them to other governmental agencies by such means and upon such terms and conditions as would best promote their development and operation in the public interest.

For questions please contact Alan Schroeder, Natural Resources Specialist: aschroeder@uc.usbr.gov (970-248-0692)