Catalog Record

Avalon Reservoir and Dam Pecos River Operations Modeling Data from Pecos River Basin Study

Time-series water operations data modeled by the Pecos River Operations Model (PROM) data for the Pecos River Basin Study as part of the Water SMART Program. This study used data from five downscaled and bias-corrected Global Climate Models (GCMs) run through a Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrological model. Outputs at key headwater and tributary gages were then used as inputs and run through a RiverWare operations model, PROM. There are ten runs for each GCM which includes: a baseline run, five alternate management strategy runs, and four water footprint runs.
Generation Effort Pecos River Basin Study
Themes Water
Tags Water Modeling, Basin Study, Alternate Strategies, Future Projections
Reclamation Project Carlsbad Project
Reclamation Program Basin Study Program

Location Information

Location Description Avalon Dam is located on the Pecos River 5 miles north of Carlsbad, New Mexico. The dam is a zoned earthfill structure that was constructed by private interests in 1888. The dam washed out in 1893 and, after reconstruction, was washed out again in 1904 by the Pecos River flood. The Reclamation Service rebuilt the dam in 1907. The height of the dam was increased in 1912, and again in 1936. The dam now has a structural height of 60 feet and a volume of 202,000 cubic yards. This is an earthfilled structure 1,360 feet long and 53 feet high. There are three spillways and an outlet works. The original reservoir storage capacity was 7,000 acre-feet; a 1996 resurvey showed a capacity of 4,466 acre-feet at the top of conservation pool.
Location Tags Rio Grande River Basin, Pecos Basin, Avalon Dam, Avalon Reservoir
Location Parent
State(s) New Mexico
Unified Region(s) Upper Colorado Basin
Timezone MT
Elevation 3,160 ft
Vertical Datum EGM96
Coordinates (lat, long) (32.4908, -104.2522)
Horizontal Datum WGS84