Silver Lake Shallow
Otero County, New Mexico9 acresView mapDirections
NMED publishes the water-quality measurements for Silver Lake Shallow. Here is what has been measured.
- Oligotrophic
Silver Lake Shallow in Otero County, New Mexico has water-quality measurements published by NMED, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 50 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.9 µg/L. Surface area: 9.1 acres.
Silver Lake Shallow is a 9-acre cold, clear oligotrophic lake in Otero County, New Mexico. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Compared to the 3 other monitored lakes in Otero County, Silver Lake Shallow ranks #4 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NMED, last sampled 2024-12-16. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyElevated nutrients
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. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Silver Lake Shallow 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 Silver Lake Shallow
These are the measurements NMED publishes for Silver Lake Shallow, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data. Phosphorus 50 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 1.9 µg/L. TSI 49.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | No reading How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. | |
| Total phosphorus | 50µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 1.9µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 49 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Silver Lake Shallow
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
9 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Silver Lake Shallow, so its depth is not documented here.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Silver Lake Shallow
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Silver Lake Shallow in Otero 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. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Silver Lake Shallow are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Silver Lake Shallow
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Fishing Silver Lake Shallow
Water Quality Trend: Improving
Based on 9 years of monitoring (2012–2021).
Phosphorus
Improving-3 µg/L/yr5 years
Chlorophyll-a
Stable-0.01 µg/L/yr9 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Silver Lake Shallow is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Silver Lake (completed 1963), built primarily for recreation on the Silver Springs Creek -TR; earth-type dam, 57 ft tall and 535 ft long.
- Surface area
- 9.1 ac
- Normal storage
- 125 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 193.1 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 3.95 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- BIA
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NM00160 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.21 km)
Nearby Lakes in Otero County
Frequently asked questions about Silver Lake Shallow
Where is Silver Lake Shallow?
- Silver Lake Shallow is a lake in Otero County, New Mexico. Its water-quality measurements are published by NMED and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Silver Lake Shallow?
- Silver Lake Shallow in Otero County, New Mexico has water-quality measurements published by NMED, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 50 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.9 µg/L. Surface area: 9.1 acres.
Is Silver Lake Shallow safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Explore Silver Lake Shallow across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
49 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2012–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Mescalero Apache Tribe DRMP (Tribal)
DRMPWQX49 samples · 2012–2024
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Two Reagent Colorimetry
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
Monitoring station identifiers (2)
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.