El Vado Lake water level — New Mexico
El Vado Lake in New Mexico was last measured at 18,624 acre-ft of storage (no elevation gauge reported), as of Aug 22, 2026, 1:15 PM (UTC+00:00) (USACE CWMS Data).
- Pool elevation
- Not reported
- % of conservation pool full
- Not reported
- Storage
- 18,624 acre-ft
- Recent trend
- Not enough data
This station reports storage but no elevation gauge — its managing agency does not publish a pool-elevation reading here.
Recent trend
Not enough recent readings to show a trend.
Data: USGS Water Services (waterservices.usgs.gov) and USACE CWMS Data (cwms-data.usace.army.mil), retrieved 2026-08-31. Both public domain (a work of the U.S. Government, 17 U.S.C. §105).
Source: USACE SPA/El Vado, retrieved Aug 31, 2026, 8:24 AM (UTC+00:00). Official page for this lake →
The dam behind El Vado Lake
El Vado Lake is held back by El Vado Dam (also recorded as El Vado Reservoir) , a other structure , standing 230 ft high and running 1,326 ft along its crest , built across RIO CHAMA RIVER in Rio Arriba County , near EL VADO . It was completed in 1935 , and is owned by BUREAU OF RECLAMATION (a federal owner) .
Its recorded primary purpose is irrigation — the pool is drawn down across the growing season to serve water rights downstream, then refilled over winter . It also serves irrigation;recreation;water supply.
Its spillway is ungated: once the pool reaches the crest, water leaves on its own and the operator cannot hold it back. The spillway opening is 630 ft wide.
NID classes it high hazard potential. That describes what a failure would cost downstream — loss of life would be expected — and says nothing about how likely a failure is, or what condition the dam is in.
At its normal pool the reservoir covers about 3,380 acres. NID records a maximum storage of 209,330 acre-ft against a normal storage of 196,250 acre-ft. Its maximum discharge capacity is 17,800 cubic feet per second.
Dam facts: National Inventory of Dams record NM10008 , filed by Bureau of Reclamation — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, public domain. Water levels above come from USACE CWMS Data and are a separate source. (How this dam was matched to this gauge →)
Nearby lakes
The six nearest published lakes by centroid distance (great-circle) — cross-state neighbors included.
| Lake | State | Level | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heron Reservoir on Willow Creek | NM | — | 8 km |
| Abiquiu Reservoir | NM | 6,198.99 ft | 48 km |
| Navajo Reservoir | NM | 6,013.41 ft | 82 km |
| Platoro Reservoir | CO | 9,987.05 ft | 86 km |
| Nambe Falls Reservoir | NM | 6,808.72 ft | 112 km |
| Cochiti Lake | NM | 5,344.66 ft | 115 km |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the current water level of El Vado Lake?
- This lake reports storage (18,624 acre-ft as of Aug 22, 2026, 1:15 PM (UTC+00:00)) but no elevation gauge — its managing agency does not publish a pool-elevation reading here.
- Is El Vado Lake full right now?
- Its managing agency does not publish a %-of-conservation-pool-full figure for this lake, so we show the bare level rather than estimate one.
- Where does this data come from?
- From USACE SPA/El Vado, retrieved Aug 31, 2026, 8:24 AM (UTC+00:00).
More in New Mexico
See every lake tracked in New Mexico, or read the methodology behind these figures.