Abiquiu Dam is a dam on the

Rio Chama The Rio Chama, a major tributary river of the Rio Grande, is located in the U.S. states of Colorado and New Mexico. The river is about long altogether. From its source to El Vado Dam its length is about , from El Vado Dam to Abiquiu Dam is abou ...

, located about northwest of Santa Fe in

Rio Arriba County Rio Arriba County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 40,246. Its county seat is Tierra Amarilla. Its northern border is the Colorado state line. Rio Arriba County comprises the Española, N ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

. Built and operated by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

(USACE), the dam is an earth embankment structure high and long, containing 11.8 million cubic yards (9,022,000 m³) of fill. The dam forms

Abiquiu Lake Abiquiu Lake is a reservoir located in Rio Arriba County, in northern New Mexico in the southwestern United States. Water of the Rio Chama is impounded by the earth-filled Abiquiu Dam, 1,800 feet (550 m) long and 340 feet (104 m) high, complete ...

, one of the largest lakes in New Mexico with a full storage capacity of and of water. To date, the reservoir has never filled to capacity, with a record high of , 29.4% of full pool, on June 22, 1987. The dam's primary purpose is flood control, in addition to irrigation and municipal water storage, and hydroelectric generation.

History

The first proposal for a flood control dam on the Rio Chama was introduced in the

Flood Control Act In the United States, there are multiple laws known as the Flood Control Act (FCA). Typically, they are enacted to control irrigation because of floods or other natural disasters and are administered by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Th ...

of 1948. The original plans called for the construction of a low dam at Chamita, about downstream of the present site of Abiquiu Dam. In the 1950s a dam at Abiquiu was added to the project, and it was later determined that a single high dam at this site would be sufficient. In the subsequent Flood Control Act of 1960, the Chamita dam was removed from the project. Construction of Abiquiu Dam began in 1956 and the river was diverted in July 1959. Limited flood control operations began in 1962 and the dam was completed on February 5, 1963, at a cost of $21.2 million.

Upgrades

The dam initially functioned as a dry dam, with a very small permanent reservoir pool for sediment trapping purposes. In 1974 the city of

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

petitioned the USACE for the regular storage of up to in the reservoir as part of the San Juan–Chama Project. The USACE agreed in 1976 to allow this storage, also increasing the minimum reservoir volume to for recreation purposes. In 1986, the dam was raised by and the emergency spillway widened from to .

Hydroelectric plant

In 1990 a small power station was constructed at the dam base providing a capacity of 13.5

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s (MW). Between 2009 and 2011, the addition of a turbine increased the plant's capacity to 16.5 MW. The hydroelectric plant is operated by

Los Alamos County Los Alamos County (English: "The Poplars" or "Cottonwoods") is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 17,950. The smallest county by area in the state, Los Alamos County was formerly administered ex ...

Department of Public Utilities.

References

{{Authority control Dams in New Mexico Dams completed in 1963 Energy infrastructure completed in 1963 United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Earth-filled dams Hydroelectric power plants in New Mexico Dams in the Rio Grande basin 1963 establishments in New Mexico

History

Upgrades

Hydroelectric plant

See also

References