2 weeks Ago
With spring snowmelt expected to be minimal this year, Santa Fe-area residents who are looking for opportunities to have fun on the water may find their local options curtailed. But the owner of a newly renovated marina on Navajo Lake in San Juan County is touting the offerings at his enterprise, noting you don’t need to be a boat owner to have a good time at the lake. “It is a market I’m trying to break into,” Jarrett Johnson, the owner of the Navajo Lake Marina, said of Santa Fe.
The marina — inside Navajo Lake State Park on the west side of the lake along the San Juan River, the state's second-largest reservoir with 165 miles of shoreline — already counts many Albuquerque-area residents as regulars, Johnson said, but it’s been more difficult to attract Santa Feans. He’s hoping his latest round of improvements to the marina will change that, noting he poured $4 million into new boat slips this winter after a devastating storm last summer wreaked havoc on their aging predecessors. The changes come after some lakes closer to Santa Fe have seen years with low water levels and one popular boating destination — El Vado Lake along the Chama River — remains drained due to delayed repairs to its aging dam.
While the outlook for spring runoff to increase water levels is dismal this year, Abiquiú Lake, just downstream from El Vado, could get a boost from a water storage deal signed in June between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority.
The agreement allows the lake to store native Rio Grande system flows. Previously, it could only store water from the San Juan-Chama Diversion. The change increases its capacity from 200,000 acre-feet to 230,000 acre-feet, according to the Corps of Engineers.
Johnson said the events of Aug. 21, 2024, at Navajo Lake were almost shocking in the speed and fury at which they unfolded. “It was a gorgeous day,” he said, recalling he had welcomed a delegation of 40 to 45 state lawmakers and accompanying visitors that day as part of an event designed to showcase the offerings at the marina.
That changed quickly as evening approached, he said. Barely five minutes after the last visitor departed the marina, the previously clear skies turned dark, and the wind kicked up out of the west. Within minutes, Johnson said, those winds were gusting out of all directions, with some of them reaching 80 mph.
“I’ve seen a lot of bad storms out here,” Johnson said, noting Navajo Lake regularly experiences monsoon storms. “But this was a solid 15 mph worse than any of those.” By the time it was over, the marina had sustained $1.
7 million in damage, he said. Fortunately, most of that destruction was restricted to the oldest three boat docks, structures that dated to the 1960s. Johnson had planned to replace them eventually.
That storm gave Johnson an excuse to speed up his renovation timetable. Over the fall, winter and early spring, marina employees have been working to install four new boathouses that feature 170 slips — 20 more than their predecessors. Johnson described the boathouses as state-of-the-art structures that meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards with wider walkways, higher rooflines and modern amenities.
They also employ polyethylene floats, which Johnson described as environmentally friendly alternatives to Styrofoam, the material commonly used on docks in the past. The docks were designed and constructed by an Oklahoma builder before being shipped to Navajo Lake for installation by the marina crew, he said. The work on the new boathouses was completed this week, he said, noting electrical power to the structures was initiated Wednesday.
Johnson estimated he has invested $25 million in the marina since acquiring it with a partner in July 2013. He said his first year of ownership was spent largely observing things and gaining an understanding of what the facility needed to be more successful. In 2014, he spent $64,000 to build a series of courtesy boat slips and a new walkway in front of the marina store and gas dock.
That may seem like pocket change compared to the improvements he has made since then, but Johnson said it was a major investment for him at the time. “I lost a little sleep over that,” he said. “I think I lose less sleep now when I invest $3 million or $4 million.
” Johnson didn’t stop there. When he purchased the marina in 2013, it had 267 slips, he said. That figure now stands at 525, causing the marina to sprawl across a significant portion of the lake’s southern tip and giving it the appearance of a bustling, floating village.
Perhaps the biggest change came in 2017 when Johnson decided to build a new marina store, restaurant and gas dock with 42 courtesy slips for day guests. “We undertook that project at a cost north of $3 million,” he said. Those new amenities were a considerable improvement over their predecessors, he noted, explaining most marina buildings tend to be simple wood-and-tin shacks.
The store and restaurant at the Navajo Lake Marina are actual floating buildings, he said, featuring stone and stucco facades. “It’s not your typical architecture,” he said. “I think it turned out nice.
” Those additions led to the Navajo Lake Marina being named Large Marina of the Year in the Northern Hemisphere by Marina Dock Age magazine, he said. The marina offers numerous other amenities, as well, many of them designed to appeal to park visitors who don’t have a boat but still want to get out on the water. The marina rents several varieties of watercraft, including bass boats, pontoon boats and a 30-foot party barge.
Johnson said those rentals have created a significant revenue stream. When he purchased the marina, it had seven boats that generated $72,000 in gross income. It now offers 50 boats that generate $1.
2 million in income, he said. The marina also rents all manner of smaller watercraft, including kayaks, paddleboards, aqua cycles, bumper boats and hydro bikes. And it has seven 42-foot “aqualodges” for rent — stationary structures that sleep six people while featuring a full bathroom and shower, kitchen, living room and private deck with a barbecue grill, even faux palm trees.
Johnson said the aqualodges are good options for folks who drive to the park from long distances and don’t want to spend a weekend at Navajo Lake sleeping in a tent. The marina also offers a splash pad and an enclosed fishing hole, which is surrounded by railing and seating. Both features are designed to appeal to younger visitors.
“That’s an emphasis for me because I’m trying to facilitate the next generation of boaters,” Johnson said, adding he remembers how special it was for him to experience trips in his grandfather’s boat when he was a child. “I want young people today to know what that experience is like instead of having their noses buried in their phones or tablets.” Despite all those amenities, Johnson said the main attraction is the lake itself, which sits at an elevation of approximately 6,000 feet.
Navajo Lake is known for its deep-blue water and the tree-studded canyons, cliffs and hills that surround it, making it a much different experience from most of the state’s other lakes. “Many people remark on how clean and fresh the water is, which all comes from spring melt from the Rocky Mountains,” he said. The marina features live music nearly every weekend in the summer and holds two annual parties — a summer kickoff event for boat slip leaseholders and a Labor Day weekend Pirate Day event, with boaters encouraged to dress as buccaneers.
Johnson said many participants in Pirate Day take things a step further and invest in pumps and hoses that serve as a stand-in for cannons. “There are usually about 30 of us doing battle with each other,” he said, noting the pumps can propel water up to 150 feet at a rate of 100 gallons a minute. “We’re just big kids having a water fight, and we have a blast with it.
” Johnson said all those changes have helped him build a loyal clientele over the years. “Our customers have been very welcoming to the improvements, which have grown substantially over the years,” he said. “Hopefully, someday, that will reap rewards for us.
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