Canadian River

About the Canadian River

• The Canadian River rises in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of southern Las Animas County, Colorado, near Raton Pass and the Colfax County, New Mexico line, then flows south and southeast into New Mexico.1
• In northeastern New Mexico the river is impounded first at Conchas Lake, where an Army Corps of Engineers dam holds back most of the Upper Canadian Basin's flow, and then, near Logan, at Ute Lake, before the Canadian continues into Texas.12
• The Canadian is the largest tributary of the Arkansas River, and it separates the Llano Estacado from the northern High Plains; below Ute Reservoir it is, according to the state's Game and Fish department, one of the best examples in New Mexico of a healthy, intact native fish assemblage, including the Arkansas River shiner and peppered chub.13

This report follows 413 miles (665 km) of the Canadian River across 4 watershed segments, from Canadian Headwaters downstream to Lake Meredith. At the lower end of the report the river drains about 19,051 square miles. Named tributaries joining it here include the Ute Creek, Mora River, Revuelto Creek, Vermejo River and Pajarito Creek. Reservoirs on this reach: Conchas Lake and Ute Reservoir. Largest urban areas near it: Raton and Tucumcari. 7 gauges with at least 26 weeks of daily flow cover 1909 to 2026.

From the archive: NHDPlus river network, WBD watersheds, NHD waterbodies, TIGER urban areas and the report's gauges.

From the headwaters down

Each watershed segment in order, with last week's flow rated against the same week in 1991–2020.

1. 1

   Segment 1: Canadian Headwaters

   No data last week.

   Towns: Raton.

   Median conductance 1,492 µS/cm in the 2010s. Rain over the last 3 months: 164% of normal.

2. 2

   Segment 2: Upper Canadian

   787 cfs last week much above normal, 84 dry days this year.

   Median conductance 903 µS/cm in the 2020s. Rain over the last 3 months: 160% of normal.

3. 3

   Segment 3: Upper Canadian-Ute Reservoir

   3 cfs last week normal.

   Median conductance 11,500 µS/cm in the 2020s. Rain over the last 3 months: 154% of normal.

4. 4

   Segment 4: Lake Meredith

   308 cfs last week above normal.

   Median conductance 4,320 µS/cm in the 2020s.

Culture

• Ranching remains part of the Canadian's cultural fabric in New Mexico: several large ranches in the Ute Reservoir watershed have maintained sustainable range-management practices for generations, and local landowners and agencies started the Canadian River Riparian Restoration Project in 2004.2

Habitat

• Cottonwood-willow riparian forest lines the Canadian River and its creeks in New Mexico, with Fremont cottonwood and peachleaf willow the most common trees, and New Mexico locust, chokecherry, hackberry and Apache plume along the ephemeral streams, though invasive tamarisk, Siberian elm and Russian olive have taken hold in some stretches.2
• Below Ute Reservoir the Canadian provides critical habitat for the Arkansas River shiner and peppered chub, minnows of sandy Great Plains rivers whose eggs develop while drifting in the water column, so they need flowing water to complete their life cycle.3
• The Arkansas River shiner is the only threatened or endangered species with critical habitat in the Canadian River drainage in New Mexico, though it does not occur upstream of Ute Dam; the watershed also provides habitat for sensitive species such as the bald eagle, lesser prairie-chicken, mountain plover, burrowing owl and black-tailed prairie dog, among others.2

Reservoirs

From the archive: National Inventory of Dams (USACE) and the reservoir registry.

Water users

• The Arch Hurley Conservancy District's Tucumcari Project uses Conchas Reservoir water, carried through the 84-mile Conchas Canal and 26-mile Hudson Canal, to irrigate about 41,000 acres of farmland around Tucumcari.5
• Ute Reservoir is the water source for the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System, known informally as the Ute Pipeline Project, which the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority is building to deliver drinking water to Clovis, Elida, Portales and Texico.6
• Towns near the river largely rely on groundwater rather than the Canadian itself: Logan draws on wells in the Santa Rosa formation on the north side of Ute Reservoir, Tucumcari pumps the Entrada formation and local alluvial aquifers, and Mosquero uses the Dakota formation, while the thin, discontinuous Ogallala aquifer in this watershed is used only by the village of Roy.2

Surface water withdrawn, 2020

In the counties this river crosses (Colfax, Harding, Mora, Quay, San Miguel): 264,528 acre-feet. County totals include other streams.

State Engineer, New Mexico Water Use by Categories 2020.

Irrigation districts and acequias

• Arch Hurley Conservancy District (169,662 acres mapped)

State Engineer's irrigation districts and acequia layers.

Public water systems beside the river

Maxwell Co-Operative Water Users Assoc, French MDWCA/Swa, City of Raton/Raton Water Works, Springer Tract, Logan Water System, Big Mesa Water MDWCA

State Engineer's public water systems layer (service areas within 2 km).