Lake Roberts
Grant County, New Mexico61 acresView mapDirections
NMED publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Roberts. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Mercury
- Limited data
Lake Roberts in Grant County, New Mexico has water-quality measurements published by NMED, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.7 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 41.1 µg/L. Surface area: 61.2 acres.
Lake Roberts is a 61-acre lake in Grant County, New Mexico. Water clarity is declining over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NMED, last sampled 2019-10-02. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Roberts is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), temperature. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Lake Roberts 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 Lake Roberts
These are the measurements NMED publishes for Lake Roberts, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Murky, only visible to about 5.7 ft. Chlorophyll-a 41.1 µg/L. TSI 59.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 5.7ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. | |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 41.1µg/L | Measured, not scored The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 59 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Lake Roberts
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
61 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Lake Roberts, so its depth is not documented here.
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Fishing Lake Roberts
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2017–2019). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening2 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-1.75 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lake Roberts is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Lake Roberts Dam (completed 1963), built primarily for recreation on the Sapillo Creek; earth-type dam, 64 ft tall and 401 ft long.
- Surface area
- 61.2 ac
- Normal storage
- 748.3 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,982 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 89 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND FISH
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NM00273 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Lake Roberts 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.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NM-2504_20 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Grant County
Frequently asked questions about Lake Roberts
Where is Lake Roberts?
- Lake Roberts is a lake in Grant County, New Mexico. Its water-quality measurements are published by NMED and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Lake Roberts?
- Lake Roberts in Grant County, New Mexico has water-quality measurements published by NMED, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.7 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 41.1 µg/L. Surface area: 61.2 acres.
Is Lake Roberts safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Roberts is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), temperature. Check local advisories before you swim.
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Where this data comes from
4 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2019. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- NM Environmental Dept./SWQB
21NMEX_WQX4 samples · 2019
Analytical methods
- 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