Santa Fe River

About the Santa Fe River

• The Santa Fe River rises at Santa Fe Lake below 12,408-foot Lake Peak in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, inside the city's protected municipal watershed in the Santa Fe National Forest, and runs 46 miles to its confluence with the Rio Grande.1
• Before reaching the city the river is stored in the McClure and Nichols reservoirs, which together with the rest of the watershed supply about 37 percent of Santa Fe's drinking water.2
• Since a 2012 city ordinance, Santa Fe has released 'Living River' bypass flows below Nichols Reservoir and continued sending some storable flows to traditional acequias downstream, aiming to keep water moving through the river's urban reach.23

This report follows 44 miles (72 km) of the Santa Fe River, all within the Rio Grande-Santa Fe watershed segment. At the lower end of the report the river drains about 258 square miles. Downstream of the mapped reach it flows into the Rio Grande. Named tributaries joining it here include the Cienega Creek. Largest urban areas near it: Santa Fe and White Rock. 4 gauges with at least 26 weeks of daily flow cover 1913 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: Rio Grande-Santa Fe

   10 cfs last week much above normal, 52 dry days this year.

   Towns: Santa Fe.

   Median conductance 191 µS/cm in the 2010s. Rain over the last 3 months: 182% of normal.

Culture

• Santa Fe's Acequia Madre, the 'mother ditch' that carried Santa Fe River water to the city's homes and fields, was built more than 400 years ago using irrigation technology Spanish settlers adapted from Arabic practice, and it still runs today, though at a reduced rate.4
• The city continues to bypass some of its storable Santa Fe River flows to support both the 'Living River' and traditional acequias downstream.2
• Santa Fe's 2012 Living River ordinance targets bypass flows from Nichols Reservoir toward the Santa Fe Canyon Preserve reach, in part to sustain a biologically diverse stretch of river during the irrigation season when demand is highest.3

Habitat

• Santa Fe Canyon Preserve, a 525-acre stretch of one of the last unspoiled riparian corridors on the river just below the reservoirs, protects a bosque of cottonwood and willow trees and is home to more than 140 bird species.6
• Beavers have recolonized the preserve and transformed stretches of the historic river channel into ponds and wetlands, and the Nature Conservancy has worked since 2012 to re-establish the northern leopard frog there.6
• The city dedicates 'Living River' flows below Nichols Reservoir to maintain a healthy plant community and wildlife habitat and to shade and cool the urban river corridor.23
• The river's 17,200-acre municipal watershed, largely within the Santa Fe National Forest and partly inside the Pecos Wilderness, has been closed to public access since 1932 to protect water quality at the river's source.1

Reservoirs

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

Water users

• Stored in the McClure and Nichols reservoirs and treated at the Canyon Road Water Treatment Plant, the Santa Fe River supplies about 37 percent of the City of Santa Fe's drinking water.2
• The city bypasses some of its storable river flows to traditional acequias below the reservoirs, in addition to flows dedicated to the 'Living River.'2
• Under the 2012 Living River ordinance, the city targets a weekly average bypass flow of 0.3 cubic feet per second through the Santa Fe Canyon Preserve reach, especially during the high-demand irrigation season.3

Surface water withdrawn, 2020

In the counties this river crosses (Sandoval, Santa Fe): 69,520 acre-feet. County totals include other streams.

State Engineer, New Mexico Water Use by Categories 2020.

Irrigation districts and acequias

• Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (42,131 acres mapped)

State Engineer's irrigation districts and acequia layers.

Public water systems beside the river

City of Santa Fe Water System, Santa Fe County Utilities, Pena Blanca Water & Sanitation District, La Cienega MDWCA, Hyde Park Estates Water Users Association, Agua Fria Water Association

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