San Juan Fish Passage

View photos of fish passage

Englarge drawing of fish passage

PNM is proud to be a partner in the development of a fish passage designed to help the endangered Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker to move upstream in the San Juan River.

The $1.2 million fish passage, funded in part by PNM, was completed in 2003. The facility, designed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, regulates current through the weir. This regulation of the current entices fish to enter boulder pools that are the beginning of the 400-foot passage and eventually leads the fish around the weir to continue their journey upstream to their native habitat.

The 3-foot-tall weir is part of a water intake facility for the nearby San Juan Generating Station, a power plant of which PNM is the principal owner.

The passage holds fish for Navajo Nation Fish and Wildlife staff members who manually remove and identify fish daily. Only native fish, including the Colorado pikeminnow and the razorback sucker, are allowed back in the river.

The Colorado pikeminnow and the razorback sucker are listed as endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.