El Vado Dam, New Mexico
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El Vado Dam, which holds back El Vado Lake, is unusual as it uses steel plates to reduce seepage across the 175-foot long face of the dam. The lake was constructed in 1935, as part of a Bureau of Reclamation Project. It is on the Chama River, and also holds water coming from the western slope of Colorado, as part of the Bureau of Reclamation’s San Juan-Chama Project. The collected water leaves through a tunnel at the base of the dam, then continues its course downstream through the Chama River for several miles, then enters the Abiquiu Reservoir.