The Rio Chama Watershed has been built into a system of managed runoff, including the San Juan diversion via the Azotea tunnel under the Continental Divide.
Lakes Heron, El Vado, and Abiquiu are prominent water- banking features that serve communities downstream.
The Rio Gallina (shown) originating in the Nacimiento Uplift and Mountain area is tributary to the Rio Chama .
Glaciation south from the northern mountains, and north down the Rio Gallina Watershed, may have formed ice dams along the Hogback just east of present day Hwy 112, forcing the Rio Gallina east into the Rio Chama.