Bluewater Lake
Cibola County, New Mexico1,730 acresView mapDirections
No nutrient or algae sampling on record from NMED for this lake.
- Impaired · Mercury
- 22 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Bluewater Lake in Cibola County, New Mexico has water-quality measurements published by NMED, shown here as reported. Surface area: 1730 acres.
Bluewater Lake is a 1,730-acre lake in Cibola County, New Mexico with an estimated average depth of about 22 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 2 public boat landings.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NMED, last sampled 2022-05-17. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Bluewater Lake covers about 1,700 acres in Cibola County. It has 2 public boat landings, so a lakefront rental is not the only way to get a boat on the water. If you are planning to stay, you can search lake houses and cabins around Bluewater Lake on Vrbo, or look for a hotel room near the lake on Booking.com or Expedia.
What Bluewater Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch2 documented ramps
- Big water1,730 acres
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Bluewater Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Bluewater Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the New Mexico Environment Department and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Bluewater Lake
These are the measurements NMED publishes for Bluewater Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data.
Ask about Bluewater Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
→ Bluewater Lake water level: the live USGS gauge reading
Lake Details
Max depth
~22 ft est.
Surface area
1,730 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by NMED
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. New Mexico has not published bathymetry for Bluewater Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
209 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
4.6 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
7,375 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
Recreation & Access
- Bluewater Lake State ParkPublic
- Bluewater Lake State ParkPublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Bluewater Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Bluewater Lake in Cibola County, New Mexico — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water.
Top-rated places to stay near Bluewater Lake
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
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Fishing Bluewater Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Bluewater Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Bluewater Dam (completed 1927), built primarily for irrigation on the Bluewater Creek; arch-type dam, 99 ft tall and 655 ft long.
- Surface area
- 1,730 ac
- Normal storage
- 38,510 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 44,150 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 207 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- BLUEWATER-TOLTEC IRRIGATION DISTRICT
All listed purposes: Irrigation;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NM00239 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Bluewater Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NM-2107.B_00 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Cibola County
Frequently asked questions about Bluewater Lake
Where is Bluewater Lake?
- Bluewater Lake is a lake in Cibola County, New Mexico. Its water-quality measurements are published by NMED and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Bluewater Lake?
- Bluewater Lake in Cibola County, New Mexico has water-quality measurements published by NMED, shown here as reported. Surface area: 1730 acres.
Is Bluewater Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Bluewater Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Bluewater Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Bluewater Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 22 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate. The lake covers 1730 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Bluewater Lake?
- Bluewater Lake has 2 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Bluewater Lake State Park, Bluewater Lake State Park. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Bluewater Lake?
- Bluewater Lake has 2 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by New Mexico's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
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Where this data comes from
7 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2014–2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- NM Environmental Dept./SWQB
21NMEX_WQX7 samples · 2014–2022
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H 2 ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination by spectrophotometer
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory