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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 25, 2026 · source last checked Aug 27, 2026 · page revised Aug 27, 2026_

> Now 822,606 af, 20% below the 5-yr median, 49% of capacity.

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.

## The numbers

| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Week over week | 822,606 af | 843,115 af | -2.4% |
| Month over month | 822,606 af | 902,597 af | -8.9% |
| Year over year | 822,606 af | 919,011 af | -10.5% |
| vs 5-yr median | 822,606 af | 1.02M af | -19.7% |

### 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 822,606 af to 1.34M af.

Navajo Reservoir is one of the 20 major reservoirs this site totals each day, and one of several it tracks in the San Juan-Colorado basin. For the combined picture, [western reservoir levels](/reservoir/tracked-total) carries the storage of all 20 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 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 25, 2026
- Update frequency: Daily

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Cite: Navajo Reservoir water level is 20% below its 5-yr median for the date. The Waterline, data through Aug 25, 2026. https://the-waterline.com/reservoir/navajo-reservoir
Canonical URL: https://the-waterline.com/reservoir/navajo-reservoir
