El Vado Lake lake and shoreline

El Vado Lake Water Level

New Mexico

Make Home Lake
Favorite

Share current lake level

Share El Vado Lake's current conditions.

El Vado Lake

El Vado Lake is currently at a water-surface elevation of 6821.7 feet.

6821.66 ft · Updated 2 days ago · U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)

Current level

6,821.66ft

Status unavailable

Since last reading

Down 1.35 ft

Previous readingOct 236,823.01 ft

7-day change

Up 9.73 ft

7-day trend: Rising

8 daily readings in the last 7 days

30-day change

Up 10.60 ft

29 daily readings in the last 30 days

Share feedback or correction

Keep up with El Vado Lake

Follow for weather alerts and lake notices

Save El Vado Lake and get weather alerts and lake notices, plus water levels, weather, fishing conditions, and events on your dashboard. Water-level change notifications are not included.

  • Lake Alerts

    Weather alerts and lake notices for this lake.

  • Fishing Outlook

    See fishing conditions and the best days ahead.

  • Dock Talk

    Ask questions and hear from people around the lake.

Follow El Vado Lake — Free
  • No credit card
  • Personalized to El Vado Lake
  • Weather alerts and lake notices

Water Level History

Current
6821.66 ft
24h
-1.35 ft
7d
+9.73 ft
30d
+10.60 ft

Elevation (ft) Water-surface elevation (ft)

Reference line is designed full pool.

Water Temperature

Loading the latest reading…

View Water Temperature

Follow for weather alerts and lake notices

Get weather alerts and lake notices for El Vado Lake. Water-level change notifications are not included.

Follow El Vado Lake — Free

Lake Level Context

Current lake level

El Vado Lake is currently 6821.66 ft. The lake has risen 9.73 ft over the past 7 days and 10.60 ft over the past 30 days.

El Vado Lake Level Details

Reference elevations, recent daily readings, data sources, and answers to common questions.

Conditions & Reference

Level status

Summary updating

This comparison needs the current level and full pool. We use the live feed when present, otherwise the latest daily summary when it includes a pool comparison.

DatumVertical reference for published pool and stage elevations at this lake (from the lake catalog).
Water-surface elevation (ft)
Elevation reference
Not available
Source
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)

Reference levels

No published reference elevations for this lake.

Surrounding county drought

Severe Drought

92.6% of surrounding county in official drought (D1–D4).

Severity

NoneExtreme
Trend
Improving

Surrounding county drought

Rio Arriba County, NM

Severe Drought

Severe Drought. The largest share of Rio Arriba County, NM is in Severe Drought (D2), an official USDM drought category. These figures describe the surrounding county from the lake location, not the lake itself.. Trend: Improving compared with last week. Official drought (D1–D4) yes

Severity

NoneExtreme

Weekly trend

Improving

Compared with last week

Official drought (D1–D4)

Yes

92.6% of the surrounding county is in official drought categories (D1–D4). Dominant category remains Severe Drought.

Typical county impacts (USDM guidance)

  • Lower streamflows in the surrounding county
  • Drier soils and vegetation stress
  • Minor increase in wildfire risk for the area

U.S. Drought Monitor · map date Oct 20, 2026. Updated weekly. Official drought means U.S. Drought Monitor categories D1–D4 (Moderate through Exceptional). Abnormally Dry (D0) is not counted as official drought. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for Rio Arriba County, NM

Daily level summary

DateLevelChange
Oct 24, 20266,821.66-1.35
Oct 23, 20266,823.01-0.96
Oct 22, 20266,823.97+8.81
Oct 21, 20266,815.16+3.23
Oct 20, 20266,811.93+0.1
Oct 19, 20266,811.83-0.04
Oct 18, 20266,811.87-0.06

Common questions about El Vado Lake’s water level

  • The current water level at El Vado Lake is 6,821.66 ft (updated 2 days ago). You can track the El Vado Lake lake level on the interactive chart and daily history above.

  • The current 7-day trend for the El Vado Lake lake level is rising — rising about 9.73 ft over the past week. See the history chart above for the full picture.

  • Readings refresh when U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) publishes new gauge data — typically daily for most reservoirs. The timestamp above the chart shows when the latest observation arrived on Lake Insights.

Lake level glossary

Definitions for pool targets, datums, and how elevation readings are labeled.

Privacy preferences

Ads and analytics are not optional. You can still choose optional functional cookies. Essential cookies stay on so the site works.

  • Essential

    Required for sign-in, security, and core site features. These cannot be turned off because the service would not work without them.

  • Functional & preferences

    Remembers optional choices such as display preferences beyond what essential cookies require. Most preference storage today is essential for signed-in features.