San Carlos Reservoir is on its way to drying again

San Carlos Lake is expected to run dry in the coming weeks. Water levels dipped below 10,000 acre-feet on September 8; by September 24, levels had reached 4,434 acre-feet, bringing the lake to below one percent capacity. 

Fed by the Gila River, the lake is a reservoir formed by the Coolidge Dam, located just south of Peridot on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. 

The lake’s levels are known to fluctuate, and this would not be the first time the lake has dried up. In its nearly 100 years of existence, it has reportedly dried up at least 20 times.

This happened as recently as July 2022, when the lake level was down to just 315 acre feet. 

“It was to the point that we weren’t able to get water out of the dam gates themselves,” says Brandi Ogle, business manager of the San Carlos Irrigation and Drainage District. 

Still, each time it dries, those who rely on it have to adjust, from those who rely on it for farm irrigation to those who rely on it for recreation. 

The lake was formed as a reservoir for the San Carlos Irrigation Project to provide irrigation water to the Gila River Reservation and nearby lands. SCIDD relies primarily on the San Carlos Irrigation Project for water to provide to the Gila River Indian Community and non-Native farmers within its district. Without water from the reservoir, farmers will have to rely solely on well water.  

In San Carlos, the lake serves as a recreation point. Notably, it is a fishing hotspot, frequented for bass, sunfish, catfish, crappie, and trout. The San Carlos Apache Tribe Recreation and Wildlife Department stocks the lake. 

“This lake used to be famous decades ago for monster bass, crappie, and catfish,” says Globe-based fishing enthusiast A.J. Gore who has frequented San Carlos Lake over the years. 

When full, it is among the largest of lakes in the state, with a capacity of around 900,000 acre feet.

Precipitation between August of 2022 to the following April brought the reservoir’s levels back up significantly from its last dry spell, as high as 529,100 acre feet, Ogle says, but levels have been on the decline ever since. 

“I hit that lake in late May as the levels were getting bad, but the fishing was still fantastic,” Gore says. “But that was my last trip as the boat ramp soon became out of the water.”

The San Carlos Apache Tribe declared a state of emergency due to drought conditions in July.

According to NOAA data, as of mid-September, there is a 40 to 50 percent chance of precipitation levels being below normal in Arizona this winter. 

Those relying on the waters of San Carlos Lake can only hope that the odds will flip in their favor once more. 

The San Carlos Recreation and Wildlife Department and the Office of the Chairman Terry Rambler of San Carlos Apache Tribe did not respond to a request for comment.