WSP01993

• File Number: 8200.750
• Description: San Juan River General
• State: CO
• Basin: San Juan/Dolores
• Water Division: 7
• Date: 12/1/1959
• Author: Clifford H Jex
• Title: A Report on the Water Resources of the San Juan River Basin in Colorado - December 1959
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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NAVAJO - BLANCO DIVISION

Location and Description

The Navajo-Blanco Division includes the watersheds in Colorado tributary

to the Navajo River, Blanco River and smaller streams entering the San Juan

below the junction of Echo Canyon Creek and above the junction of the Navajo

with the San Juan River. The basin includes the Navajo River, Little Navajo

River, Coyote Creek, Rio Blanco River, Rito Blanco River and Echo Creek.

The Navajo River, and tributaries Little Navajo River and Coyote Creek,

flow in a general westerly direction in Colorado, cross the State line into

New Mexico, run approximately twelve miles in New Mexico, re-enter Colorado

and join the San Juan River twenty miles downstream from Pagosa Springs. The

Rio Blanco and Rito Blanco Rivers flow in a southwesterly direction and join

the San Juan in Colorado, eleven miles below Pagosa Springs,

The principal streams head on the western slope of the Continental

Divide in Archuleta County, Colorado. Watershed peaks extend to elevations

in excess of 12,000 feet.

The main Navajo River and the Rio Blanco River carry a surplus of water

all seasons of the year. The other streams, Little Navajo River, Coyote

Creek, Rito Blanco River and Echo Creek are fully used during irrigation

months. Reservoir storage of water for irrigation amounts to 300 acre feet.

The water proposed for diversion from the Colorado River Basin in

Colorado to the Rio Grande Basin in New Mexico by the initial phase of the

San Juan-Chama Project would be obtained from the runoff of the Navajo River,

Little Navajo River and the Rio Blanco River, Reports state that an a-,erage

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