In 1907, two wealthy ranchers, Frank Springer and Charles Springer, and the CimarronValley Land Company were granted a water permit to impound the water of the Cimarron River for irrigation by building a dam. Construction of the dam began in 1916, and continued until 1918. The dam is high and has an arc length of. At the top, the dam is wide, and it is wide at the base. It is considered the largest privately built dam in the United States. The resulting lake, known as Eagle Nest Lake has an area of and measures long, and wide. The surface elevation of the water when the lake is at capacity is above sea level. The reservoir has a capacity of of water. The dam was constructed by laborers from the Taos Pueblo. It is named Eagle Nest Dam for the eagles that made themselves a home on the sides of the dam. The dam sits between two granite walls, and as part of the plans, the Springers had to reroute U.S. Route 64 to its current location, over McAvoy Hill.
Water rights
To help finance the dam, Springer sold some water rights from Eagle Nest Lake to local farmers and ranchers. These original rights are known as vested rights. In 1951, the State of New Mexico adjudicated the watershed of the Cimarron River. This adjudication confirmed Springer's original permit which gave him the right to store surplus and flood water in the Eagle Nest Lake. There were many other court cases, and one of them ended up in the New Mexico State Supreme Court in 1990. Today, Eagle Nest Lake still serves its intended purpose as a reservoir, which provides irrigation water via the Cimarron River and a complex canal system, to many farmers and ranchers, some as far as 50 miles downstream. Some of the water rights from Eagle Nest Lake have been purchased by local municipalities including Raton and Springer. The villages of Angel Fire, Eagle Nest, and Cimarron can also get their water from the lake.
State ownership
In 2002, the State of New Mexico bought the lake, and it is now operated by the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, but owners maintained their water rights. After New Mexico bought the lake, various water users approached Governor Bill Richardson in hopes of mediation to end the litigation over water rights. Governor Richardson and the local governing bodies signed the Eagle Nest Water Rights Settlement on June 2, 2006. This settlement specifies that all users share in water shortages. The sharing arrangement is prorated based on the amount of water in the lake on June 1 of each year. All users will be treated equally, including the so-called Tier-Two users who make bulk water purchases. The agreement can be viewed on the web. The state established the Eagle Nest Lake State Park for use of the lake for recreational purposes.
