Navajo Dam is a dam on the San Juan River, a tributary of the Colorado River, in northwestern New Mexico in the United States.
DURANGO, COLO. – New Mexico Highway 539 over Navajo Dam, located about 45 miles east of Farmington, New Mexico, is now reopen to traffic, as of May 14, after being closed for drilling operations. Traffic detours and/or road closures are expected to resume in late-2025 after peak recreation season is over.
The road closure was necessary for maintenance crews to complete exploratory drilling to gather geotechnical data on Navajo Dam as part of Reclamation’s Safety of Dams Program. Under this program, Reclamation completes annual inspections and studies to identify potential issues that may lead to a corrective action. While all dams have seepage, there has been an increase in the amount of seepage at Navajo Dam over the years which has led to the need for the current exploratory work there. Reclamation wants to target the source of the seepage and evaluate if new state-of-the-art practices that were unavailable at the time of construction will address the seepage issue.
“This exploratory drilling will provide Reclamation with critical data to help address seepage issues at Navajo Dam,” said Western Colorado Area Manager Ed Warner. “To minimize impacts on the public, construction has been carefully scheduled to ensure the road remains open during the summer and peak recreation season.”
Project updates will be available here. Road closure information is also available on New Mexico’s Department of Transportation website.
For more information on construction activities, contact Kelsey Deckert at 970-385-6557 or kdeckert@usbr.gov or Reece Carpenter at 970-248-0637or rkcarpenter@usbr.gov.
