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Show Forest Service. About May, 1957 the Bureau expects to let a contract for a diversion tunnel. Following completion of a definite plan report, the prime contract for the dam and power plant will be awarded in the fall of 1957. 3. Navajo Unit The Navajo Dam will be located in northwestern New Mexico on the San Juan River, 34 mlies east of Farmington, and 3^2 miles downstream from the confluence of Los Pinos and San Juan Rivers. The dam will be of rolled earth-fill embankment type. The original plan included a reservoir with a capacity of 1,450,000 acre-feet. More recent studies, however, indicate a reservoir size of 1,700,000 acre-feet with an active capacity of 960,000 acre-feet. After a joint study of the optimum capacity of the reservoir by the State of New Mexico and the Bureau of Reclamation, the Interstate Stream Commission of the State recommended that a 1,700,000 acre-foot reservoir be constructed. Sediment accumulation in the reservoir will be heavy and will amount to 330,000 acre-feet over a 100-year period, much of the sediment being deposited in the inactive section of the reservoir. This reservoir will be used to regulate the flows of the San Juan River for the potential Navajo Irrigation Project near Farmington, the San Juan-Chama Project on the eastern side of the mountains, and perhaps for the small authorized Hammond Project. A part of the water made available to the Navajo Irrigation Project also may be used for industrial and municipal purposes. A small amount of flood protection to downstream developments and some recreational facilities will also be provided. Construction Activities Eight hundred thousand dollars were earmarked in the Appropriations Act for 1957 for the start of construction on Navajo Dam. Engineering and geologic investigations are being undertaken as a basis for final designs and specifications. Temporary headquarters have been established at Farmington, New Mexico, to complete preconstruction investigations and to administer a construction contract for an access road. 4. Curecanti Unit The Curecanti Storage Unit will be located on the Gunnison River in western Colorado, upstream from the Black Canyon -39- |