San Juan River level at Navajo Dam
New Mexico · Fishing & wading
Measured at USGS 09355500 — SAN JUAN RIVER NEAR ARCHULETA, NM · NWS forecast point ARCN5
Reading taken · as of 1 hour ago
Low and clear — wadeable, and fish will be spooky
At 293 CFS, this gauge is in the lowest 5% of the 60 years USGS has recorded for this date (1963–2023), at 46% of the 632 CFS median. The stage is 2.7 ft below the NWS action stage of 6.6 ft.
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Flood stages at Navajo Dam
National Weather Service categories for gauge ARCN5, WFO ABQ. Impact wording is the NWS's own, verbatim.
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Minor flood 7.0 ft · 5,000 CFS
- 7.0 ft Minor flooding is possible with inundation to structures located close to the river from near Archuleta to Bloomfield.
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Action 6.6 ft · 4,338 CFS
- Right now 3.92 ft
NWS forecast: 3.82 ft by .
Flow history at Navajo Dam
Daily values from USGS 09355500, updated every 15 to 60 minutes; NWS forecast for ARCN5 reissued through the day. Provisional.
Highest crests on record at Navajo Dam
12 on record
| Stage | Flow | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 11.00 ft | 18,900 CFS | Jul 27, 1957 |
| 7.19 ft | 6,680 CFS | Mar 27, 1955 |
| 7.00 ft | 4,952 CFS | Jun 16, 2017 |
| 6.93 ft | 5,460 CFS | Jun 9, 2011 |
| 6.89 ft | 5,460 CFS | May 29, 2008 |
| 6.85 ft | 5,380 CFS | Jun 8, 2009 |
| 6.77 ft | 5,090 CFS | May 18, 2005 |
| 6.71 ft | 5,660 CFS | Jun 9, 1997 |
| 6.67 ft | 5,780 CFS | May 23, 1979 |
| 6.65 ft | 5,520 CFS | May 30, 2001 |
Crests published by the National Weather Service.
About San Juan River at Navajo Dam
USGS publishes this station as San Juan River near Archuleta, on a 3,260 square mile drainage at 5,658 feet. Its published daily statistics cover 1963 to 2023 and stop there, so the seasonal median this page compares today's reading against does not include the last few years.
Inside that window the river is closely held: monthly medians of 498 CFS in November to 989 in June, with nine months between 498 and 710. The record high daily mean, 17,100 CFS on 27 July 1957, and the instantaneous peak of 18,900 CFS at 11.0 feet the same day, both predate that window. The NWS ladder here has only two rungs, action at 6.6 feet and 4,338 CFS, minor at 7.0 feet and 5,000 CFS.
San Juan River at Navajo Dam — common questions
6 questions
How current is the normal shown on this page?
The USGS daily statistics for this station cover 1963 to 2023, so the median behind the percent of normal figure stops a few years short of today. The live reading is current and the daily series itself runs to the present. It is a short gap rather than the decades long one some stations have, but worth knowing when the comparison looks surprising.
Why are there only two flood categories here?
The NWS publishes action stage at 6.6 feet and minor flood at 7.0 feet for this forecast point, and no moderate or major category. It also attaches a discharge to each, 4,338 and 5,000 CFS, which most points on this site do not, so the CFS figure on this page can be read directly against the ladder rather than through the stage.
Does the Animas at Durango tell me anything about this gauge?
Less than the 34.5 mile distance suggests. Across 26,217 days of overlapping record since 1954 the correlation is 0.446 and this station has carried a median of about 1.75 times the Animas. The Animas is free flowing and shows the snowmelt year directly; this reach is governed by releases from Navajo, so the two only agree when the reservoir is passing what arrives.
What makes the flow change on San Juan River at Navajo Dam?
Rain upstream, plus seasonal baseflow. The 12-month chart shows how it behaves through the year.
Is San Juan River at Navajo Dam high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for late September here is 632 CFS, from 60 years of record (1963–2023). Today sits in the lowest 5% of those years, at 46% of the median. The comparison is what makes the raw number mean anything: the same reading is a drought on one river and a flood on another.
How often does this reading update?
USGS transmits from gauge 09355500 every 15 to 60 minutes, and the National Weather Service reissues the flood forecast for ARCN5 a few times a day — more often when the river is rising. This page refreshes from both when you open it. The timestamp is in the gauge's local time.