San Juan River Crests at 31 Feet with Sewage in Water

The San Juan River reached a 31-foot crest on Monday, marking the peak of a surge that has left communities in the Four Corners region dealing with contaminated water and structural damage. The National Weather Service reported the river was 1.5 feet above the 23-foot flood stage early in the day and predicted it would drop below that threshold by Tuesday morning. This level is slightly lower than the 32-foot high recorded on September 10, 1927.

The immediate health risk for residents returning home is the presence of raw sewage in the floodwaters. In the Shiprock area of the Navajo Nation, local manager Wilfred Franklin Jr. confirmed that wastewater facilities and holding ponds were damaged, releasing sewage into the river. Officials in New Mexico and Utah urged the public to avoid contact with the water, citing additional risks from broken gas and propane lines. San Juan County Fire and Rescue Chief David Vega acknowledged that residents are eager to return to their homes but emphasized that hazards persist in the saturated neighborhoods.

One person died during the flooding event. The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office reported that a female passenger was swept away from a vehicle while a family attempted to cross a flooded arroyo on Saturday. A father and child escaped onto dry land, but the passenger was found dead a mile from the incident site. The storm that caused the flooding also produced a tornado that touched down in Santa Fe on Saturday night.

Two months of intermittent heavy rain, driven by tropical moisture and El Niño conditions, created the saturated ground that allowed the rivers to surge so rapidly. In Bloomfield, New Mexico, residents Zach and Abigail Flatt evacuated after their river-level home rose four feet in under an hour. They watched via webcam as 18 inches of water covered their property, killing 22 of their 24 chickens. In Farmington, hundreds of residents remained without power on Monday, and San Juan County spokesperson Devin Neeley described the area as an active disaster zone without providing exact evacuation numbers.

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and National Guard Major General Miguel Aguilar traveled to San Juan County on Monday to survey the damage. The state's congressional delegation asked President Donald Trump to declare a state of emergency on Sunday to unlock federal funding. In Colorado, teams mapped affected roads and evacuation zones to assist with the cleanup efforts.