La Jara Reservoir

The two dams and the reservoir are managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.^[2] The reservoir and the land surrounding it are state trust land owned by the State of Colorado.^[5] Portions of the reservoir and the land surrounding it make up the La Jara Reservoir State Wildlife Area, managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.^[6]

The Colorado State Land Board, the agency that manages Colorado State Trust lands, is considering transferring the 45,650-acre (18,470-hectare) tract of land that makes up the La Jara State Trust Land to the Rio Grande National Forest, which is adjacent to the property. The tract includes the reservoir.^[7]

An appraisal completed in October 2023 by Chandler Consulting of Grand Junction, Colorado set the value of the tract at $43.5 million. The final sum will be paid by the federal government agencies acquiring the land (Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management) to the Colorado State Land Board. The price works out to about $1,000 per acre ($2,500/ha).^[8]

In June 2025, a news report indicated that the land transfer from the Colorado State Land Board would be divided among the United States Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife, with the western 21,821.28 acres (8,830.76 hectares) of the 45,000-acre (18,000-hectare) tract going to the Forest Service, the eastern 21,704.51 acres (8,783.50 hectares) going to the Bureau of Land Management, and the 2,124 acres (860 hectares) surrounding the reservoir going to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The two federal agencies accrued funds in the years prior to the land transfer with monies from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, a fund Congress established in 1964.^[9]

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   Media related to La Jara Reservoir at Wikimedia Commons
• State Trust Land map
• State wildlife area map

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