Gage height · USGS gauge 08384000 · updated August 29, 2026
Gage height
35.48ft
feet on the station datum
Gauge 08384000, Lake Sumner near Fort Sumner, NM, 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 Lake Sumner near Fort Sumner, NM 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
- 35.48 ft · August 29, 2026
- Water quality
- Readings on the lake page
The Corps of Engineers reads Lake Sumner at 4,238.88 ft, 22.00 ft below its Top of Normal of 4,260.88 ft.
The USGS reading above is a gage height — feet above a datum set at that station, not feet above sea level — so it is measuring a different thing and is not a smaller version of this number. Both numbers come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its Lake Sumner project, on that project's own vertical datum (NAVD-88). That target moves through the year on a seasonal rule curve, so it is the figure in effect now, not a fixed number. Because the datum is the project's own, this elevation is comparable to its own reference and to nothing else — not to a gauge reading from another agency, and not to a lake's mapped surface elevation.
Water quality at Sumner Lake Dam
Sumner Lake Dam has limited nutrient and algae sampling on record. A lake without recent nutrient or algae sampling shows whatever measurements exist rather than an estimate.
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.
Common questions
What is the water level at Sumner Lake Dam right now?
The most recent reading from the USGS gauge at Lake Sumner near Fort Sumner, NM is a gage height of 35.48 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 Lake Sumner near Fort Sumner, NM 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 Sumner Lake Dam low?
Sumner Lake Dam stood at 4,238.88 ft on September 27, 2026, 22.00 ft below its Top of Normal of 4,260.88 ft. The USGS reading above is a gage height — feet above a datum set at that station, not feet above sea level — so it is measuring a different thing and is not a smaller version of this number. Both numbers come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its Lake Sumner project, on that project's own vertical datum (NAVD-88). That target moves through the year on a seasonal rule curve, so it is the figure in effect now, not a fixed number. Because the datum is the project's own, this elevation is comparable to its own reference and to nothing else — not to a gauge reading from another agency, and not to a lake's mapped surface elevation.
Does the water level affect water quality at Sumner Lake Dam?
Sumner Lake Dam has limited nutrient and algae sampling on record. 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 08384000, 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.