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# Navajo Reservoir water level

Live reservoir storage and water level in San Juan-Colorado basin, New Mexico / Colorado

_Data through Aug 12, 2026 · source last checked Aug 13, 2026 · page revised Aug 13, 2026_

> Now 861,191 af, 18% below the 5-yr median, 51% of capacity.

Navajo storage was 869,867 af, down 9.5% year over year and 18% below the 5-year median. The reservoir sits at 51% of capacity. Storage declined 7.6% over the past month.

## The numbers

| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Week over week | 861,191 af | 882,785 af | -2.4% |
| Month over month | 861,191 af | 933,382 af | -7.7% |
| Year over year | 861,191 af | 952,939 af | -9.6% |
| vs 5-yr median | 861,191 af | 1.05M af | -17.9% |

### Reservoir facts

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full pool elevation | 6,085 ft above sea level (spillway elevation) | USBR |
| Maximum depth at the dam | 381.6 ft | USBR |
| Surface area at full pool | 15,600 acres | USBR |
| Total capacity | 1,696,000 acre-feet | USBR |

## About Navajo Reservoir

Navajo Dam impounds the San Juan River and backs water about 35 miles upstream into southern Colorado, one of the four main storage units of the Colorado River Storage Project. Reclamation operates it for irrigation, municipal and industrial supply, drought reserve, and flood control. Cold releases below the dam feed a well-known tailwater trout fishery.

Total capacity is 1.70M af, over the past five years storage has ranged from 842,941 af to 1.34M af.

Those figures describe the reservoir at full pool, not today. The chart at the top of this page tracks storage in acre-feet rather than water depth, so read the current figure against total capacity for how full the reservoir is, and against the full pool elevation and maximum depth for the size of the water column behind the dam. The two do not move together one for one: a reservoir narrows as it deepens, so one holding half its capacity still stands more than half as deep.

Sources: full pool elevation and surface area from [the Bureau of Reclamation](https://www.usbr.gov/uc/envdocs/ea/navajo/ch3.pdf); maximum depth from [the Bureau of Reclamation](https://www.usbr.gov/projects/index.php?id=310); total capacity from the Bureau of Reclamation.

## About this data

- Source: US Bureau of Reclamation RISE; California reservoirs via CA DWR CDEC
- Series: End-of-day reservoir storage
- Geography: Navajo Reservoir water level
- Unit: acre-feet
- Calculation period: Daily reading
- Last observation: Aug 12, 2026
- Update frequency: Daily

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Cite: Navajo Reservoir water level is 18% below its 5-yr median for the date. The Waterline, data through Aug 12, 2026. https://the-waterline.com/reservoir/navajo-reservoir
Canonical URL: https://the-waterline.com/reservoir/navajo-reservoir