Morgan Lake is an important migratory stop and wintering site for a large variety of birds. The lake and shoreline habitat is uncommon in San Juan County and Morgan Lake provides the largest site with such habitat in the county. Through the years Morgan Lake also has attracted vagrant and uncommon visitors seen rarely in the county and state. These include Brown Pelican, Black Skimmer, Black-legged Kittiwake, Sabine’s Gull, and Red Knot. Significant numbers of Western Grebe are seen in fall, winter, and spring along with a few Clark’s Grebe. Various species of waterfowl are seen in migration and winter, sometimes in large numbers.

Morgan Lake is a warm water reservoir situated immediately north of Four Corners Power Plant. The lake has been stocked with fish. The lake and shoreline are surrounded by desert grass and shrublands. There are tamarisk and Russian olive thickets along much of the shore with willows in some areas and cottonwood saplings in places. A few willows are tree size. Some of the shoreline is sandy. The delta mudflats vary in size depending on the water level, but there are always some mudflats available for shorebirds, waders, etc. Because of the warmer temperatures of the water returned to the reservoir by the power plant, the reservoir does not freeze when other area lakes do. Morgan Lake is currently open to the public and easily accessible and viewed from various points along the shore. Agreements were obtained with both the Four Corners Power Plant and the Navajo tribe (which controls the recreational use of the lake and grazes cattle around it) for the nomination of this area as an IBA. The Four Corners Power Plant Environmental Scientist, Mr. Howard Bradley, has been instrumental in erecting Wood Duck boxes and Osprey nesting platforms and in environmental education of local school children.

The 1200-acre lake Morgan Lake, on the Navajo Reservation, is open year-round. The lake is a cooling pond for the APS power plant. It offers windsurfing and fishing in 75-degree water year-round.

About four miles southwest of Kirtland, take the road from Farmington going west on US-64 toward Shiprock about 15 miles. Then turn South on Navajo Route 36 (the road to Four Corners Power Plant). Morgan Lake is 15 miles west of Farmington south off US-64.