NAVAJO DAM

NAVAJO DAM BY W. W. BRENNER AND J. D. SEERY Bureau of Reclamation

“Canyon Country” is the one phrase above all others which can best be used to describe the locale of key structures of the Bureau of Reclamation's Upper Colorado River Development. Navajo Dam, one of the key structures, is being constructed in a fairly deep and curving canyon of the San Juan River 39 miles east of Farmington, New Mexico. The work, estimated to-cost $42,372,000, was authorized by the 84th Congress Act of April 11, 1956-Public Law 485. Navajo Dam will be a large earth and rock-fill structure 405 feet high and 3,700 feet long at its crest, With a total volume of 26,300,000 cubic yards it will be among dams built by the Bureau of Reclamation, second in size only to the Trinity Dam now under construction in northern California. With a reservoir extending 35 miles upstream and storing a maximum of 1,709,000 acre-feet of water, the project is designed to serve multiple purposes. In addition to the regulation of flows of the San Juan River, it will provide the storage required for the proposed 110,000acre Navajo Indian Irrigation Project. It will make possi ble the proposed upstream diversion of water for the San Juan-Chama Project and will provide recreational and fish and wildlife conservation facilities. A penstock will be installed in, the outlet works in the course of construction to permit possible development of power if the installation of generating facilities becomes eco nomically feasible in the future. In June 1958 twelve nationally known construction firms submitted, bids on the prime contract for building Navajo Dam. The contractor was awarded, to the MorrisonKnudsen Company, Incorporated, the Henry J. Kaiser Company, and the F. & S. Contracting Company, bidding: on a joint venture from Los Angeles, California, at the price of 522,822,624.00. Actual, construction operations were initiated in late July 1958, and the contract provides for completion March 19, 1963. Construction has pro ceeded so rapidly, it is now estimated the dam will be completed next year. Flood flows are most likely to occur in the San Juan River during the late spring or early summer, and again in September-October. These flows result respectively from spring snow melt and seasonal fall rains. With room available at the dam site for placement of approximately 6-million cubic yards of embankment without disturbing the river channel, only minor diversion operations are

NAVAJO DAM AND RESERVOIR

required during the first year of construction. Thereafter, the outlet works tunnels will be utilized for diversion purposes. These tunnels, without gates and gate control apparatus, will be used until the dam embankment reaches sufficient height to permit safe storage of water. Gates will then be installed, first in the auxiliary outlet works' tunnel and then in the main outlet works tunnel, in sequence that will permit the simultaneous accumulation of storage and continuous downstream release of water as was previously mentioned. It is expected that the rate of discharge from Navajo Dam after ultimate development of the Navajo Irrigation Project will be natural flow of river up to 600 cubic feet per second.

The Navajo Dam will create a relatively deep but narrow reservoir extending 35 miles up the San Juan River, 13 miles up the Pine River, and 4 miles up the Piedra River of southern Colorado. When filled, the reservoir will have a maximum depth of 388 feet at the dam and a surface area of 15,610 acres. Storage capacity will be as follows:

In addition,

Principal Quantities Required for the Dam, Spillway and Outlet Works Features

Big equipment rushes completion of Navajo Dam

MISTRESS CACTUS WREN

She never keeps a budget She never pays the rent; She is a thrifty shopper She never spends a cent.

Her dress is always stylish She is pert and full of vim; She owns her own apartment On a green saguaro limb.

She never thinks of science As she flits from place to place; She has no fear of atoms She's already conquered space!

TREE PORTRAITS

A palo verde is sunlit laughter when Spring walks desert ways; A pepper tree is a lace mantilla through which the moonlight plays...

The eucalyptus has gypsy breeding that laughs at wind and rain; Gnarled sycamores sing where canyons are deep, a peace-filled, calm refrain But high on-mountains, the pines stand praying, their voices whisper low as they chant together an ageless measure, "Reach out and up, and grow!"

INDIAN SUMMER

While daytime summer loafs and lingers, Frost steals by night, with chilly fingers, A bit of greenness from the hems Of skirted meadows. Leafy stems Of blue wild asters feel his pinch As gradually, inch by inch And night by night, earth's verdure yields To autumn hues on hills and fields.

This is the time of smoke-blue haze, Bewitching Indian Summer days When languid skies still dare to doubt That summertime is bowing out.

EXPLORER

Moon pulled, I wander forth on misted strands To sense all strains of music and all beat of rhyme Till they are shadows where no image stands, Or melodies still echoing through time, For while the moon moves at the world's demand Yet never shows that world its secret face, I shall keep wandering as that moon has planned, A vagrant stranger in a childhood place.

GHOST TOWN

Deeds and mortgages and rents No longer count, nor doors Nor locks nor keys nor instruments Of title to rich oresRicher in hopes, perhaps, than gold. Here dusty cobwebs lace Time's vacancy, and creeping mold Invades the livings' place. What legal title need there be To ghost or tumbled stone, In any haunted legacy A pair of owls may own?

YOURS SINCERELY IN ECUADOR:

We use ARIZONA HIGHWAYS as a textbook in layout and we thought you might be interested in some photographs illustrating the value of this magazine to us. These should be identified as taken in the Audio-Visual Center of the U.S. technical program in Ecuador. The three men are from left to right, Mr. Luis Merchán, assistant to the director of the Center; Patricio Rójas, artist; and Luis Valdivieso, printer and photo-engraver.

Hazel O'Hara USOM-Quito, Ecuador

IN BRAZIL:

I am the director of our Baptist Seminary for Brazilian youths and these boys, as well as many visitors, are often in my large living room which serves also as an office. Whenever they sit down for a few minutes, they soon spy the copies of your magazine which I keep conveniently located for all. Though the majority cannot read English, the photographs have a language all their own, which needs no interpretation, or very little. Their words of admiration sound like this: Maravilhosa-Que lugar lindo! Que perfeicão! Gostaria de visitar esses lugares! This last one means, I would love to visit there.

I know what they mean, for I had had the same longing since first I saw the magazine many years ago. Last year I had the privilege of visiting Arizona and loved every minute of it. When I ordered my subscription personally at your office, I also purchased several center prints, four of which constantly attract the eye of others as they, in blond frames, decorate the rustic brick wall of my living room. They are also a reminder to me of the days spent in viewing the treasury of natural beauty of your state. Thanks so much for this inspiration, so wonderfully pictured in every issue.

John W. Elliott São Paulo, Brazil

IN INDO-CHINA:

Too bad ARIZONA HIGHWAYS has no street vendor in these parts. My copy gets worn to shreds by Saigon citizens in their quest for more knowledge of the "new land." The state of Arizona is not well known to the Vietnamese but your magazine (at least one copy of it) provides a hearty introduction. You may be surprised just how far your magazines go.

J. A. Hughes Saigon, Viet Nam

OPPOSITE PAGE

"IN NAVAJO NATIONAL MONUMENT" BY DAVID MUENCH. 4x5 Graphic View camera; Ektachrome; f.18 at 1/10th sec.; 54" Tessar lens; August; sunny day. In Navajo National Monument, Arizona, on the Navajo Indian Reservation, approximately fifteen miles from Reservation Route 1. Shown here is Betatakin, the first of three large ruins in the Monument and one of the most beautiful prehistoric ruins in the Southwest. Betatakin, "hillside house," seems to grow from the rock pylons in the overshadowing cave. Timbers in the roofs (dated by Dr. E. A. Douglass' dendrochronology) show that Puebloans built and remodeled the village for more than thirty years (1242-1277 A.D.)

BACK COVER

"SHIPROCK-NEW MEXICO" BY JOSEF MUENCH. 4x5 Graphic View camera; Kodachrome; f.11 at 1/10th sec.; 6" Ektar lens; October; evening, light and clear. Shown here is Shiprock, a noted landmark in Northwestern New Mexico and reached by Reservation (Navajo) roads from the town of Shiprock. This massive volcanic plug, visible for many miles in every direction, is named for its suggestion of a square rigger-full sails set.