Gage height · USGS gauge 08382810 · updated August 29, 2026
Gage height
-5.28ft
feet on the station datum
Gauge 08382810, Santa Rosa Lake near Santa Rosa, N.M., operated by the U.S. Geological Survey. The value above is the most recent reading on file with its own timestamp. When the gauge answers, it is replaced by the current one — no estimate is ever shown in place of a missing reading.
What this number is
Gage height is the height of the water above a reference point set at Santa Rosa Lake near Santa Rosa, N.M. when the station was installed. It tracks rise and fall at this lake accurately, but the zero point is local: it is not depth, not sea level, and not comparable to another lake's gage height.
- Measured as
- Gage height, ft on the station datum
- Most recent reading on file
- -5.28 ft · August 29, 2026
- Water quality
- Readings on the lake page
No target level is shown here. Saying a lake is high or low needs a conservation pool or a seasonal rule curve to measure against, and the gauge reading alone does not carry one. The station page above holds the full record, including the last several days, which is what a single reading has to be read against.
Surface elevation is a different number
Mapped surface elevation at Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake is about 4,734 feet above sea level, from the HydroLAKES global lake dataset. That is a fixed cartographic value, not a reading: it does not move when the lake rises, and it is not the gage height above. Keep the two apart.
Water quality at Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake
Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake's readings for total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity are shown beside the EPA National Lakes Assessment condition classes for its own ecoregion. Clarity averages 1.6 feet of visibility, shown separately.
The gauge measures how much water is in the lake. The nutrient and algae readings measure what is in the water. A rise or a drawdown does not change those readings until the lake is sampled again.
Full water-quality breakdown for Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake
Common questions
What is the water level at Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake right now?
The most recent reading from the USGS gauge at Santa Rosa Lake near Santa Rosa, N.M. is a gage height of -5.28 ft, taken on August 29, 2026. This page reloads that gauge every time it is opened, so the number above is the current one whenever the station is reporting. USGS lake gauges typically post a new value every 15 to 60 minutes.
What does gage height mean?
Gage height is the height of the water above a reference point set at Santa Rosa Lake near Santa Rosa, N.M. when the station was installed. It tracks rise and fall at this lake accurately, but the zero point is local: it is not depth, not sea level, and not comparable to another lake's gage height.
Is Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake low?
That question needs a target pool level to answer, and the gauge reading alone does not supply one. Reservoir operators publish a conservation pool or a seasonal rule curve for the lakes they manage, and the USGS station page for gauge 08382810 carries the full record this reading came from, including the past several days. Comparing today against that record is the honest version of "low" — a single number is not.
Does the water level affect water quality at Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake?
Santa Rosa L Dp Sta Midchannel Buoy Lake has nutrient and algae readings on record from state and federal monitoring. Each lake's nutrient and algae readings — total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity — are shown beside the EPA National Lakes Assessment 2022 condition class for that lake's own ecoregion, so a reading is compared against the lakes it would naturally resemble. LakeQuality publishes no letter grade. None of that comes from the gauge. A drawdown can concentrate nutrients and a heavy inflow can dilute them, but neither shows up in the readings until the water is sampled again. Treat the two numbers as separate measurements of the same lake.
Where these numbers come from
The level and temperature are U.S. Geological Survey instantaneous values from gauge 08382810, a public feed with no licence restriction. The water-quality readings come from EPA Water Quality Portal samples submitted by NM Environmental Dept./SWQB. For advisories and standards in New Mexico, NMED is the authority — a gauge reading is neither.