The Rio Grande is one of the principal rivers in the southwest United States and northern Mexico. The Rio Grande begins in south-central Colorado in the United States and flows to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way, it forms part of the Mexico–United States border. According to the International Boundary and Water Commission, its total length was 1,896 miles (3,051 km) in the late 1980s, though course shifts occasionally result in length changes. Depending on how it is measured, the Rio Grande is either the fourth- or fifth-longest river system in North America.
Tierra Amarilla is a small unincorporated community near the Carson National Forest in the northern part of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the county seat of Rio Arriba County.
Chama is a village in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,022 at the 2010 census. The village is located in the Rocky Mountains about 7 miles (11 km) south of the Colorado-New Mexico border.
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad (C&TS) is a 3 ft narrow-gauge heritage railroad running for 64 miles (103 km) between Antonito, Colorado and Chama, New Mexico, United States. The railroad gets its name from two geographical features along the route, the 10,015-foot (3,053 m)-high Cumbres Pass and the Toltec Gorge. Originally part of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad's narrow-gauge network, the line has been jointly owned by the states of Colorado and New Mexico since 1970.
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 130 miles (210 km) long altogether. From its source to El Vado Dam its length is about 50 miles (80 km), from El Vado Dam to Abiquiu Dam is about 51 miles (82 km), and from Abiquiu Dam to its confluence with the Rio Grande is about 34 miles (55 km).
Chama is an unincorporated community and U.S. Post Office in Costilla County, Colorado, United States. The ZIP Code of the Chama Post Office is 81126.
The Brazos Mountains is a range in far northern Rio Arriba County, in northern New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The range is part of the southern portion of the San Juan Mountains which are more well known in Colorado. A high crest runs from the border with Colorado for over 20 miles (32 km) in a south-southeasterly direction. The high point of the range at 11,405 feet (3,476 m) is on Grouse Mesa, at the Brazos Benchmark. Two miles (3 km) to the southeast is the more distinctive Brazos Peak, at 11,288 feet.
Navajo River is a 54-mile-long (87 km) tributary of the San Juan River. It flows from a source in the South San Juan Wilderness of Conejos County, Colorado southwest past Chromo, Colorado. The river dips into New Mexico, passing just north of Dulce before heading northwest to a confluence with the San Juan in Archuleta County, Colorado. A large portion of its water is diverted across the Continental Divide to the Rio Grande basin as part of the San Juan-Chama Project.
The San Juan-Chama Project is a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation interbasin water transfer project located in the states of New Mexico and Colorado in the United States. The project consists of a series of tunnels and diversions that take water from the drainage basin of the San Juan River – a tributary of the Colorado River – to supplement water resources in the Rio Grande watershed. The project furnishes water for irrigation and municipal water supply to cities along the Rio Grande including Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
Rio Nutrias is a 35-mile-long (56 km) westward-flowing stream originating on the north slope of Canjilón Mountain in the Carson National Forest, in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. Rio Nutrias is tributary to the Rio Chama which it joins about 3-mile-long (4.8 km) below El Vado Reservoir in Rio Arriba County, in northern New Mexico.
Abiquiu Dam is a dam on the Rio Chama, located about 60 miles (97 km) northwest of Santa Fe in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. Built and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the dam is an earth embankment structure 354 feet (108 m) high and 1,800 feet (550 m) long, containing 11.8 million cubic yards of fill. The dam forms Abiquiu Lake, one of the largest lakes in New Mexico with a full storage capacity of 1,369,000 acre feet (1,689,000 dam3) and 5,200 acres (2,100 ha) of water. To date, the reservoir has never filled to capacity, with a record high of 402,258 acre feet (496,178 dam3), 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.
Heron Dam is a storage dam Rio Arriba County, in northern New Mexico in the southwestern United States, just north of the El Vado Dam. It is owned and operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation. The dam is about 9 miles west of the town of Tierra Amarilla.
The Rio Brazos is a 42-mile (68 km) long river flowing through northern New Mexico in the United States. It rises in the Tusas Mountains, a subrange of the San Juan Mountains, and runs generally southwest to a confluence with the Rio Chama, part of the larger Rio Grande system.
East Fork Rio Chama is a tributary of the Rio Chama in southern Colorado. The stream flows south from Dipping Lakes near the continental divide in Conejos County, Colorado to a confluence with the West Fork Rio Chama in Archuleta County, Colorado that forms the Rio Chama.
West Fork Rio Chama is a tributary of the Rio Chama in southern Colorado. The stream flows southeast from a source near the continental divide to a confluence with the East Fork Rio Chama in Archuleta County that forms the Rio Chama.
Chamita is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 870 as of the 2010 census. New Mexico State Road 74 passes through the community. During its earlier years, the community was known as San Pedro De Chamita and served as the first County Seat for Rio Arriba county.
