Large crowds are expected this weekend at New Mexico lakes, which are swollen to levels not seen in recent years.
For the most part, the high water levels are fueled by higher than usual snowfall in the state this year, said Wendy Mason, a spokeswoman for the New Mexico State Parks Division. Daniel Porter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said last winter New Mexico’s northern mountains received between 120 to 170% of their usual snowfall.
The gauge height at Abiquiu Lake on Wednesday was 226 feet, which was off the charts of the graph on the U.S. Geological Survey’s website. A year ago the lake in Rio Arriba County was about 195 feet.
At Cochiti Lake, many of the park amenities such as picnic tables are completely submerged. The lake was 65 feet deep Wednesday. Last year at this time, it was 43 feet, according to the USGS.
Officials at Navajo Lake said on Facebook they were expecting the lake to be full for much of the summer.
“We do expect levels to be high (throughout the state) for at least the next month due to snow melt,” Mason said.
If people are heading to lakes this weekend they should check the state parks website for the latest reports on boat ramp closures or openings.
At Bottomless Lakes, the Lea Lake North Day Use Area is closed because of flooding. But Elephant Butte Reservoir recently opened a boat ramp that had been closed for years because water levels were too low, she said.
“Everybody was ecstatic about that, because it’d been closed for so long,” she said.
Officials announced Wednesday that the boat ramp at Storrie Lake State Park near Las Vegas will reopen Friday. The ramp hasn’t been open since May 6, 2021, because of drought and extremely low water levels.
The lake is about 12 feet higher than it was last year.
State Parks officials are anticipating large crowds of boaters, kayakers, fishers and other water users at lakes over the long holiday weekend, she said. She reminded people to be careful because it could mean there is debris or other things right under the surface.
“Just be cautious, keep an eye out. Take precautions. Wear a life jacket and make sure it’s a proper fitting life jacket,” Mason said. “Plenty of park rangers will be out over the Memorial Day weekend keeping an eye on folks, but we can’t see everything.”
