The Associated Press
BLOOMFIELD — Navajo Lake has risen three feet in the past month, and is 30 feet higher than it was a year ago, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reports.
Still, at an elevation of 6,026 feet as of Monday, the lake is nearly 50 feet below its level three years ago.
A drought has caused the lake level to fall from 6,073 feet in 2001 to 5,996 feet in December 2003 — the lowest level since the dam began filling in 1963. The elevation was only six feet above the level necessary for the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project to be able to draw water.
Mike Sullivan, president of the San Juan Agricultural Water Users Association, said it appears the winter runoff into the lake will be good.
"This is a far better year than we've had in the past several," said Sullivan.
However, he added: "We're just starting winter. There's a lot that can happen between now and the end of winter."
The lake's active storage capacity stands at 29 percent.
The reservoir has gained nearly 22,000 acre-feet of water since Oct. 29 to 970,217 acre-feet. An acre-foot, about 326,000 gallons, can meet the annual water needs of one to two U.S. households.
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