The Rio Brazos is a long
river flowing through northern
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 ...
. It rises in the
Tusas Mountains
The Tusas Mountains are a mountain range in northern New Mexico, extending slightly into southern Colorado. They are considered the southeasternmost part of the San Juan Mountains. Grouse Mesa, , is the highest peak in the range. The mountains a ...
, a subrange of the
San Juan Mountains
The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...
, and runs generally southwest to a confluence with the
Rio Chama
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 long altogether. From its source to El Vado Dam its length is about , from El Vado Dam to Abiquiu Dam is abo ...
, part of the larger
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...
system.
The river is formed by two streams, the West Fork
and the East Fork,
which converge at Brazos Meadows, just outside the western boundary of the
Carson National Forest
Carson National Forest is a United States National Forest, national forest in northern New Mexico, United States. It encompasses 6,070 square kilometers (1.5 million acres) and is administered by the United States Forest Service. The Forest Serv ...
. For its first few miles, it flows south as a slow-moving, meandering mountain stream. East of Brazos Peak, it swings abruptly west into the Brazos Box, one of the largest canyons in New Mexico with a maximum depth of more than . Here, it passes the
Brazos Cliffs, receives Gavilan and Encinado Creeks, and picks up an unnamed tributary which feeds Brazos Falls, reputedly New Mexico's highest waterfall with a total drop of . Northeast of
Tierra Amarilla, the river emerges from the mountains, receiving Chavez Creek from the right. It passes the settlements of Ensenada, Brazos and Los Ojos before flowing into the Rio Chama about northwest of
Santa Fe.
The Brazos is a perennial stream, reaching its highest flows in April and early May from snowmelt in the mountains, and is subject to occasional
flash flood
A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice and snow. Flash f ...
s caused by summer
monsoon thunderstorms. Although most of the river's length provides good fishing for
brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black.
In the ...
and
rainbow trout
The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...
, especially the upper section which is one of the largest high-meadow streams in New Mexico, most of the drainage is private property. However, the New Mexico Constitution guarantees public access to all waterways in the state including the Rio Brazos as long as individuals remain within the river's banks.
Although most of the Brazos flows through wild lands, the river is heavily used for irrigation in the last , with multiple acequias (irrigation ditches) drawing off water. As a result, this section of the river often shrinks to a trickle during the dry season.
The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...
lists the water quality for the last of the river as "impaired", owing mainly to agricultural runoff and heavy summer water diversions.
See also
*
List of rivers of New Mexico
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of New Mexico arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. In mean flow of water per second, the San Juan River Arkansas is New Mexico's largest rive ...
*
List of tributaries of the Rio Grande
Tributary, Tributaries and sub-tributaries are hierarchically listed in order from the mouth of the Rio Grande upstream. Major dams and reservoir lakes are also noted.
* San Juan River (Tamaulipas), San Juan River, or Rio San Juan (Tamaulipas, Nue ...
References
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Rivers of New Mexico
Rivers of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico