TROCHET, JOHN 1989 2 Journal Junii Indian Reservation McKinley Co. New Mexico July 29 Blackrock Dam was built in the narrows of Blackrock Canyon about 1908, (Coif) over the site of an important spring. Superimposed water percolates at several places through the fault, and there seeps from pockets of water-loving plants (frequently currant, Ribes) on the upper slopes of the canyon. Otherwise, riparian vegetation is restricted to the Junii River, which flows as long as there is water in the lake because the dam leaks, and along Sand Spring Wash, which is perennial. In the N. rimrock is a juniper savanna, the junipers extending below the cliffs near the dam and between the river & Sand Spring Wash. Otherwise the slope between the N. rimrock and the Junii River is covered by crystal willow and expanses of wet grasses & sedges. The river bottom itself a rocky, thistle & muss vegetation for the first 175 yards; then the river has a crystal willow edge & one medium cottonwood in the next 70 yards; below this, mostly on the south bank (there being an erosion bluff against the N. bank), there is a Typha marsh, about 60-80 yards in length, & a width of 25-50 yards; then a stretch of willows sedgeland again for 50 yards. Then the proximity of riparian groves I will describe below. On unit area, the best engineer's trip on the reservation is a circle of 100 yards radius centered on the confluence of the Junii River and the drainage of Sand Springs Canyon. The flow from Sand Springs is rarely more than a shallow rivulet 3'-6" deep, 2-5 feet wide. But its permanent flow supports a continuous dense riparian border for 300 yards above the Junii River. This is mostly crystal willows growing in a dense stand 8-12 foot tall, 30-50 feet wide, mostly on the west side of the drainage. There are scattered emergent Cottonwoods & Russian Olives above 100 yards from the Junii River; below this, these emergent trees are nearly continuous, and are continuous in the lowest 50 yards, where Tamarisk is also mixed.