Canadian River
The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .San Miguel County,
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, about northeast of
Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish name for Saint Rose.
Santa Rosa may also refer to:
Places Argentina
*Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city
* Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca
* Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca
*Santa Rosa, La Pampa
* S ...
gravity dam
A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation. Gravity dams are designed so that each section of the dam is ...
flanked by earthen wing dikes, standing high with a total length of . The dam serves mainly for irrigation water supply and flood control and is operated by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...
.
First proposed in the early 1930s, the dam was initially rejected because of its remote site and Depression conditions in New Mexico. However, the dam was made a possibility in 1935 with the passage of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, which authorized several public works projects in New Mexico to provide relief to unemployment. Initial site work began in 1935 with construction on the actual dam starting in 1936. In 1939 construction was completed at a cost of $15.8 million.
Conchas Dam holds back a permanent pool of , with a maximum flood-control capacity of . At normal water levels the reservoir has a surface area of , increasing to at full pool.
The dam and reservoir are the primary feature of the Tucumcari Irrigation Project. Water released from the dam is diverted into of canals which irrigate of land in the Canadian River valley. The irrigation works were built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from 1940–1942 and were turned over to the Arch Hurley Conservancy District in 1954.