Navajo Dam Project Notices

Navajo Dam

Project Notices

To be added to the email list for these notices, please email cfelletter@usbr.gov

Project notices are for the current water year (WY 2026). For previous WY posted notices o, please email cfelletter@usbr.gov

Releases are made for the authorized purposes of the Navajo Unit, and to attempt to maintain a target base flow through the endangered fish critical habitat reach of the San Juan River (Farmington to Lake Powell). The San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program recommends a target base flow of between 500 cfs and 1,000 cfs through the critical habitat area. The target base flow is calculated as the weekly average of gaged flows throughout the critical habitat area from Farmington to Lake Powell.

Scheduled releases are subject to changes in river flows and weather conditions. If you have any questions, please contact Conor Felletter (cfelletter@usbr.gov or 970-637-1985).

June 8, 2026

The Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled a decrease in the release from Navajo Dam from 800 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 500 cfs for Wednesday, June 10th. Releases will decrease to 600 cfs at 4:00 AM and to 500 cfs at 6:00 AM.

May 19, 2026

The Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled an increase in the release from Navajo Dam from 300 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 800 cfs for Thursday, May 21, 2026. Releases will begin ramping up at 4:00 AM, increasing every two hours, and reaching 800 cfs at 8:00 AM.

Reclamation will be fulfilling a request to release the Jicarilla Apache Nation (JAN) subcontracted water that has been leased to the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (NMISC) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) for calendar year 2026. The subcontracted water released from the Navajo Unit will augment the current release of 300 cfs as requested by the NMISC and TNC. The release will continue for approximately 20 days, from May 21 to June 10. The total volume of JAN subcontracted water for this release is 20,000 acre-feet.

Following this operation, the release will return to 300 cfs, or whatever is required to maintain the target baseflow through the endangered fish critical habitat reach of the San Juan River (Farmington to Lake Powell).

May 4, 2026

The Bureau of Reclamation has adjusted the release schedule from Navajo Dam due to downstream maintenance activities. On Tuesday, May 5th at 4:00 AM, the release will increase from 450 to 500 cubic feet per second (cfs). A further increase to 550 cfs is planned for Thursday, May 7th at 4:00 AM.

April 27, 2026

The Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled a decrease in the release from Navajo Dam from 650 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 450 cfs for Monday, April 27th, at 8:00 PM.

April 23, 2026

The Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled an increase in the release from Navajo Dam from 400 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 650 cfs for Friday, April 24th.

April 22, 2026

The Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled an increase in the release from Navajo Dam from 300 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 400 cfs for Thursday, April 23rd, at 4:00 AM.

April 8, 2026

The Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled an increase in the release from Navajo Dam from 250 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 300 cfs for Thursday, April 9th at 8:00 AM.

Feburary 9, 2026

The Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled an decrease in the release from Navajo Dam to 300 cubic feet per second (cfs) for Feburary 10, at 8:00 AM.

January 28, 2026

The Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled an increase in the release from Navajo Dam to 350 cubic feet per second (cfs) for January 29, at 8:00 AM.

October 30, 2025

Reclamation will be fulfilling a request to release the second of two blocks of the Jicarilla Apache Nation (JAN) subcontracted water that has been leased to the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (NMISC) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) for calendar year 2025.

The subcontracted water released from the Navajo Unit will augment the current release of 300 cfs as requested by the NMISC and TNC. The table below shows the release schedule. Any changes to this schedule will be sent out in subsequent notices. The total volume of JAN subcontracted water for this release is 10,000 acre-feet.

Date Day Release as of 9:00 AM (cfs)
11/08/2025Sat300
11/09/2025Sun550
11/10/2025Mon550
11/11/2025Tue550
11/12/2025Wed750
11/13/2025Thu1,050
11/14/2025Fri1,050
11/15/2025Sat1,050
11/16/2025Sun1,050
11/17/2025Mon550
11/18/2025Tue550
11/19/2025Wed550
11/20/2025Thu550
11/21/2025Fri300

Following this operation, the release will return to 300 cfs, or whatever is required to maintain the target baseflow through the endangered fish critical habitat reach of the San Juan River (Farmington to Lake Powell).

October 15, 2025

The Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled a decrease in the release from Navajo Dam to 300 cubic feet per second (cfs) for Wednesday, October 15, at 1:00 PM.

October 7, 2025

The Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled a decrease in the release from Navajo Dam to 350 cubic feet per second (cfs) for Wednesday, October 8, at 4:00 AM.

October 3, 2025

The Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled a decrease in the release from Navajo Dam to 525 cubic feet per second (cfs) for Saturday, October 4, at 4:00 AM.

Contact

Please contact the Operations Group via e-mail at ResourceMgr@usbr.gov for additional information.

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