NM 539 over Navajo Dam closed to check on seepage

Mike Easterling, Farmington Daily Times
·2 min read
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Visitors to Navajo Lake from some parts of New Mexico will find access restricted over the next two and a half months as federal officials are closing N.M. Highway 539 for exploratory drilling activities.

Officials from the Bureau of Reclamation announced in a Feb. 26 news release that N.M. 539, which runs over the top of the Navajo Lake dam, would be closed to traffic beginning Feb. 28 and continuing through May 15. The closure includes only the section of the road that runs over the dam, according to public affairs specialist Justyn Liff, with the rest of N.M. Highway 539 south of the dam and Navajo City remaining open to traffic.

“They can drive up to that point,” she said.

But there will be no access to N.M. Highway 511, which intersects with N.M. Highway 539 at the north end of the dam and runs along the western shore of Navajo Lake to Navajo Lake State Park.

Reclamation officials will drill to gather geotechnical data as part of the agency’s Safety of Dams Program, the release states. Seepage from Navajo Lake has increased over the past several years, which has led to the need for the exploratory drilling, officials said.

N.M. Highway 539, which runs atop Navajo Dam, will be closed through May 15 as federal officials conduct exploratory drilling as they try to develop a plan to address seepage.
N.M. Highway 539, which runs atop Navajo Dam, will be closed through May 15 as federal officials conduct exploratory drilling as they try to develop a plan to address seepage.

Liff said the drilling rigs used in the process are quite large and difficult to move, which is what has led to the closure of the highway. She said the drilling likely would be only the start of multiyear process to obtain and analyze the data, then possibly develop a plan for addressing the seepage.

More: Navajo Lake ranger honored after saving boy from drowning

Reclamation officials said in the release that new, state-of-the-art practices that were not in use at the time of the dam’s construction in the early 1960s could address the seepage. Liff said agency officials would be making public announcements about possible fixes for the dam after they have analyzed the data.

Federal officials say state-of-the-art practices that were not available when Navajo Dam was constructed in the early 1960 could help them address seepage from the dam.
Federal officials say state-of-the-art practices that were not available when Navajo Dam was constructed in the early 1960 could help them address seepage from the dam.

Liff said the drilling was planned for late winter and early spring at the site to minimize the impact on tourism at the lake.

More: Officials say releases from Navajo Dam ramping up quickly in days ahead

She said there are no current plans to close N.M. Highway 511 at the north end of N.M. Highway 539.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Operation to determine seepage of Navajo Lake dam closes highway