Navigation Aids - Channel Markers on our State System

Use Caution when boating on marked and unmarked lakes!

Watercraft operators are encouraged to be cautious on our lakes, whether they are marked or unmarked.

New Mexico's lakes are irregular in shape and the bottom contours can be highly unpredictable especially when boating conditions are poor or when traveling outside of the established red and green channel markers.

Learn more about boating safety. It is your responsibility to learn and understand what all of our buoys indicate both with the US Aids to Navigation System and the State Regulatory Buoys, and to comply with the navigation rules. Use caution when boating in unfamiliar waters and go slow in unfamiliar areas.

ATONS - Aids to Navigation System
Lateral Aids
May show green reflector or light	Usually found in pairs pass between these buoys Looking upstream remember "Red, Right, Returning" Red Buoy will be to the Right (Starboard side) of your vessel while going upstream or returning from the sea.  Generally the dams are interpreted as the equivalent as the final downstream of a lake or as the place closest to the sea.	May show red   reflector or light
Port Side		Starboard Side
Solid Green Buoy Odd Numbered		Solid Red Buoy    Even Numbered
Usually Can Shaped top		Usually Nun Shaped on top.

Cardinal System Safe Water Mark May show white reflector on top or light     Red striped white buoy  May be Lettered   Navigable water all around the Mark. (1) It is good practice to be courteous in passing other vessels close to the mark by slowing your speed to control the size of your wake.    In New Mexico it  marks the center       midchannel of the   deepest channel on a   lake.  May be used in   narrow channels  where installing green  and red buoy sets is  difficult. Generally pass near and to the right of the Mark Prior to revision as of July 1, 2003 this Mark was used to designate that you were not to go between this Mark and the nearest shore. This is no longer the use of this Mark.

References:

(1)   [Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 33, Volume 1] [Revised as of July 1, 2003]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 33CFR62.27] [Page 146]

TITLE 33--NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS CHAPTER I--COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY PART 62--UNITED STATES AIDS TO NAVIGATION SYSTEM

--Table of Contents Subpart B--The U.S. Aids to Navigation System

Sec. 62.27 Safe water marks. Safe water marks indicate that there is navigable water all around the mark. They are often used to indicate fairways or midchannels, or the seaward end of channels. Safe water marks are colored with red and white vertical stripes.

Note: There was a 5 year phase in period of national use of the US Aids to Navigation even on inland waters that started on June 19, 1998 per the federal register Vol. 63, No.118 effective 7-20-98 and was merged/completed as of 12-31-2003.

More Information on US Aids To Navigation