Sanchez Reservoir facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sanchez Reservoir
Looking south across the reservoir.
Sanchez Reservoir Location in Colorado
Location	Costilla County, Colorado
Coordinates	37°05′02″N 105°24′52″W / 37.08389°N 105.41444°W / 37.08389; -105.41444
Type	reservoir
Primary inflows	Ventero Creek Sanchez Canal
Basin countries	United States
Managing agency	Sanchez Ditch and Reservoir Company
Designation	Sanchez Reservoir State Wildlife Area
Built	1912 (1912)
First flooded	1912 (1912)
Surface area	3,145 acres (1,273 hectares)
Water volume	103,000 acre-feet (127,000,000 cubic meters)
Surface elevation	2,518 meters (8,261 feet)

Sanchez Reservoir lies in far southcentral Colorado, west of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Costilla County. Its inflows include Ventero Creek and the Sanchez Canal, a diversion canal that takes water from Culebra Creek and two other creeks.

Dam

The reservoir's earthen dam was built in 1912. Because the dam leaks a lot and because of ongoing drought in the region, the reservoir never really reaches its full capacity.

Fishing

Colorado Parks and Wildlife manages fishing at the reservoir, which forms the Sanchez Reservoir State Wildlife Area. However, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has issued a "Fish consumption advisory," warning of unsafe mercury levels in northern pike and walleye caught in the lake.