Reservoirs
Below normalNavajo Reservoir water level
Live reservoir storage and water level in San Juan-Colorado basin, New Mexico / Colorado
Data through Sep 23, 2026 · source last checked Oct 1, 2026 · page revised Sep 24, 2026
Cite
- Storage
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
- Daily reading
- Last observation
- Sep 23, 2026
- Update frequency
- Daily
Now 787,623 af, 18% below the 5-yr median, 46% of capacity.
Navajo Reservoir storage stands at 787,623 af, 18% below the 5-year median and 46% of capacity. Storage rose 1.2% over the week but is down 4.6% month over month and 11% year over year.
| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week over week | 787,623 af | 778,106 af | +1.2% |
| Month over month | 787,623 af | 825,510 af | -4.6% |
| Year over year | 787,623 af | 884,695 af | -11.0% |
| vs 5-yr median | 787,623 af | 960,302 af | -18.0% |
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Latest reading, Sep 23, 2026 | 6,010.85 ft above sea level |
| Change from a week earlier | +1.15 ft |
| Change from a year earlier | -11.2 ft |
| 5-yr median for the date | 6,024.94 ft |
| Below full pool | 74.15 ft |
| Five-year low | 6,009.65 ft (Sep 14, 2026) |
| Five-year high | 6,063.8 ft (May 30, 2023) |
| 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 |
Previous weeks
Week of Sep 15, 2026
Navajo storage held 778,601 af on September 15, down 12.6% from a year ago. The level sits 20% below the 5-year median and represents 46% of capacity. The month-over-month decline of 8.3% outpaced the week's 1.3% drop.
Week of Sep 2, 2026
Navajo storage fell to 802,564 af, down 9.4% on the month. The reservoir is at 47% of capacity, 20% below the 5-year median. Year-over-year storage is down 10.9%.
Week of Aug 25, 2026
Navajo Reservoir storage fell to 822,606 af, down 8.9% on the month and 10.5% on the year. The reservoir sits 20% below its 5-year median and is at 49% of capacity.
Week of Aug 19, 2026
Navajo Reservoir held 839,895 af on August 19, down 8.2% from a month earlier. Storage sits 19% below the 5-year median and represents 50% of capacity. Year over year, the reservoir has declined 10.2%.
About Navajo Reservoir
Navajo Reservoir's water level is 6,010.85 feet above sea level as of Sep 23, 2026, 74.15 feet below full pool (6,085 feet), with 787,623 acre-feet in storage (46% of capacity). That is 1.15 feet higher than a week earlier and 11.2 feet lower than a year earlier.
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 777,694 af to 1.34M af.
Navajo Reservoir is one of the 21 major reservoirs this site totals each day. For the combined picture, western reservoir levels carries the storage of all 21 on one chart, which is the number to watch when the question is about the West as a whole rather than about this project.
Those figures describe the reservoir at full pool, not today. The chart at the top of this page tracks storage in acre-feet and the elevation table tracks the water surface in feet, so read storage against total capacity for how full the reservoir is, and the elevation 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; maximum depth from the Bureau of Reclamation; total capacity from the Bureau of Reclamation.