Santa Cruz Lake
Santa Fe County, New Mexico100 acresView mapDirections
NMED publishes the water-quality measurements for Santa Cruz Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Metals (other than mercury)
- Public access
- Limited data
Santa Cruz Lake in Santa Fe County, New Mexico has water-quality measurements published by NMED, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.3 ft visibility. Surface area: 99.8 acres.
Santa Cruz Lake is a 100-acre lake in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NMED, last sampled 2018-07-24. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Santa Cruz Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Santa Cruz Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for metals (other than mercury), nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), temperature. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Santa Cruz 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 Santa Cruz Lake
These are the measurements NMED publishes for Santa Cruz Lake, 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 6.3 ft. TSI 51.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 6.3ft | 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) | No reading 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. | 51 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Santa Cruz Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
100 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by NMED
No bathymetric survey has been published for Santa Cruz Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
Recreation & Access
- Santa Cruz LakePublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
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Stays near Santa Cruz Lake
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Fishing Santa Cruz Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2012–2018). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening3 years
Phosphorus
Improving-4.06 µg/L/yr2 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-1.98 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Santa Cruz Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Santa Cruz Dam (completed 1929), built primarily for irrigation on the Santa Cruz River; gravity-type dam, 147 ft tall and 502 ft long.
- Surface area
- 99.8 ac
- Normal storage
- 3,546.4 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 5,948 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 99 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- SANTA CRUZ IRRIGATION DISTRICT
All listed purposes: Irrigation;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NM00251 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Santa Cruz 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-2118.B_00 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Santa Fe County
Frequently asked questions about Santa Cruz Lake
Where is Santa Cruz Lake?
- Santa Cruz Lake is a lake in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. Its water-quality measurements are published by NMED and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Santa Cruz Lake?
- Santa Cruz Lake in Santa Fe County, New Mexico has water-quality measurements published by NMED, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.3 ft visibility. Surface area: 99.8 acres.
Is Santa Cruz Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Santa Cruz Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for metals (other than mercury), nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), temperature. Check local advisories before you swim.
Are there boat ramps on Santa Cruz Lake?
- Santa Cruz Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Santa Cruz Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Santa Cruz Lake?
- Santa Cruz Lake has 1 documented boat landing 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, 2017–2018. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- NM Environmental Dept./SWQB
21NMEX_WQX7 samples · 2017–2018
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
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory