Photos and article by Lynn Janes (see PDF plans at the bottom of this article)

On November 28, 2023, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish held a public meeting to address the upcoming improvements to be made to the Bear Canyon Dam and reservoir that will be starting fall of 2024 and going into the winter of 2025. The Grant County Extension office hosted the meeting.

The dam has been deemed by the state engineer, dam safety bureau to not have an adequate spillway capacity in the event of a catastrophic flood. The spillway has been identified as a historical structure and will not be changed, just improved. An additional spillway will be made to accommodate any overflow. The dam will remain the same and had originally been constructed with rock. The improvements being made will include using concrete for the dam.

The project will take approximately nine months to complete and will cause some closures and road delays. One of the representatives said it would not cause any interruptions with irrigation. A contractor had not been chosen at the time a of the meeting. An RFP (request for proposal) will be sent out in the next few months for the project.

A resident in attendance asked if they had any plans for the silt that had built up and they said no plans at the time had been made. Another resident of the area commented on the importance of addressing the silt build up and they said they would look into it.

The cost had been estimated at approximately $9 million. They will know more when the bids for the project come in. The project will be using grants, state money and capital outlay funds to complete.

They took the names and contact information from the attendees and said they would keep them updated on the project.

Any questions on the project can be directed to dfg-bearcanyon@state.nm.us