Heron Reservoir and Dam

Heron Dam is located on Willow Creek just above the point where Willow Creek enters the Rio Chama. The dam is an earthfill structure 269 feet high which forms a reservoir with a capacity of 401,320 acre-feet and a surface area of 5,950 acres. The spillway has a capacity of 660 cubic feet per second, and the outlet works has a capacity of 4,160 cubic feet per second Storage from Heron Dam provides water for municipal, domestic, industrial, recreation, and fish and wildlife purposes and provides supplemental water for irrigation. Heron Reservoir is operated by Reclamation in compliance with applicable federal and state laws, including the San Juan-Chama Project authorization and the Rio Grande and Colorado compacts. Under these laws, only imported San Juan-Chama Project water may be stored in Heron Reservoir; there are no provisions for storing native Rio Grande water. Thus, all native Rio Grande water is released to the river below Heron Dam. The outlet works for El Vado Dam, located 6 miles downstream of Heron Dam, were enlarged in 1965-1966 so that San Juan-Chama Project releases from Heron Reservoir could be passed unimpeded through El Vado Reservoir. The capacity of the outlet works is 6,600 cubic feet per second. Project: San Juan-Chama Project. Region: Upper Colorado. Elevation: 7157ft.