05/21/2026
New Mexico Highway 511 over Navajo Dam, located about 45 miles east of Farmington, New Mexico, is re-open to two-way traffic ahead of schedule and before peak recreation season begins.
The lane closure, which was in place since mid-January this year, was necessary for maintenance crews to continue exploratory drilling efforts which began in 2025 to gather geotechnical data on Navajo Dam as part of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Safety of Dams Program. Under this program, Reclamation completes annual inspections and studies to identify potential issues that may lead to corrective action. While all dams have seepage, there has been an increase in the amount of seepage at Navajo Dam over the years which has led to the need for the current exploratory work there.
Reclamation is targeting the source of the seepage and evaluating if new state-of-the-art practices that were unavailable at the time of construction will address the seepage issue.
Drilling on the roadways is now complete, however, construction equipment will remain in the area in the coming weeks to complete drilling on the embankment.
The drilling schedule and other project updates are available on our website.
