Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake
Guadalupe County, New Mexico16,670 acresView mapDirections
This is the name NMED records for this water. It can describe one sampling location rather than the water as a whole.
NMED publishes the water-quality measurements for Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Mesotrophic
- Impaired · Mercury
- 90 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake in Guadalupe County, New Mexico has water-quality measurements published by NMED, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.6 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 4.3 µg/L. Surface area: 16670 acres.
Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake is a 16,670-acre mesotrophic lake in Guadalupe County, New Mexico with an estimated average depth of about 90 feet. Overall water quality is declining 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 2020-08-12. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
- Camping1 public campground nearby
- Big water16,670 acres
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy 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 Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake
These are the measurements NMED publishes for Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Very murky, less than 1.6 ft of visibility. Chlorophyll-a 4.3 µg/L. TSI 57.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.6ft | 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) | 4.3µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 57 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
→ Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake water level: the live USGS gauge reading
Lake Details
Max depth
~90 ft est.
Surface area
16,670 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 Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
2,487 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
21.9 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
4,734 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
- Santa Rosa State ParkPublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Public campgrounds near Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake
- Rocky Point Campground0.8 km
Nearest public campgrounds in the USGS National Map inventory, within about 3 miles. An empty list means USGS records no campground that close, which is not the same as camping being unavailable. Where the source gives an official reservation link, it is used; the cabin and hotel search does not cover campsites. More camping lakes
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake
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Fishing Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2019–2020). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening2 years
Chlorophyll-a
0 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Santa Rosa Dam (completed 1979), built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Pecos River; rockfill-type dam, 214 ft tall and 1,900 ft long.
- Surface area
- 16,670 ac
- Normal storage
- 200,000 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 717,000 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 2,434 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- USACE - Albuquerque District
All listed purposes: Flood Risk Reduction;Other;Irrigation;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NM00158 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.16 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy 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.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NM-2211.B_00 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Guadalupe County
Frequently asked questions about Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake
Where is Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake?
- Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake is in Guadalupe County, New Mexico. This is the name NMED records for this water. It can describe one sampling location rather than the water as a whole. Its water-quality measurements are published by NMED and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake?
- Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake in Guadalupe County, New Mexico has water-quality measurements published by NMED, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.6 ft visibility. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 4.3 µg/L. Surface area: 16670 acres.
Is Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy 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 Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 90 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 16670 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake?
- Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Santa Rosa State Park. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake?
- Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy 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.
Are there campgrounds on Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake?
- Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake has 1 public campground from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including Rocky Point Campground. This is a location join, not a booking. Cabins and hotels are listed separately; campsite reservations use the official link when the source provides one.
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Where this data comes from
7 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2019–2020. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- NM Environmental Dept./SWQB
21NMEX_WQX7 samples · 2019–2020
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory
Public campgrounds from USGS The National Map Structures, within about 3 miles