Rio Chama below El Vado Dam

Highest listed crest 7.08 ftFlood stage 6.8 ft7 crests since 1941

The Rio Chama below El Vado Dam crested above flood stage 3 times among the 7 crests the National Weather Service lists from 1941 to 2009. The highest, 7.08 ft on May 7, 1985, was minor flooding, 0.28 feet above flood stage. 1 other gauge on the Rio Chama crested above flood stage within a week of it, 1 at its own highest listed crest.

The gauge

Highest listed crest: 7.08 ft; May 7, 1985; 6,610 cubic feet per second
Flood stage: 6.8 ft; Major flooding from 12.0 ft
Crests at major: 0; 3 above flood stage
Most recent flood crest: May 7, 1985; 7.08 ft, minor flooding
Location: Rio Arriba County; New Mexico
Identifiers: NWS RCEN5; USGS 08285500

Flood stages

The thresholds the National Weather Service uses for this gauge today, and how many listed crests reached each.

Flood categories, Rio Chama below El Vado Dam

Action stage	6.2	2	May 9, 2009	The level at which the NWS or its partners begin to take action
Flood stage (minor)	6.8	3	May 7, 1985	Minimal or no property damage, but possibly some public threat
Moderate flood stage	9.0	0	—	Some inundation of structures and roads near the stream
Major flood stage	12.0	0	—	Extensive inundation of structures and roads

Every listed crest

7 crests from 1941 to 2009. Filled: at or above flood stage. Hover a crest for its date and stage.

Crests at or above flood stage, by decade

These are the crests the local National Weather Service office lists for the gauge: the highest on record and recent crests. Lesser floods between them may be missing, so counts by decade are a floor.
Categories use today's flood stages. Levees, dams and channel changes since a crest can make old and new stages not directly comparable.
1 crest measured on an earlier gauge datum is left out: 12.00 ft on May 22, 1920.

Highest crests

Highest listed crests, Rio Chama below El Vado Dam

1	May 7, 1985	7.08	+0.28	Minor	6,610
2	May 17, 1941	6.89	+0.09	Minor	6,010
3	May 20, 1973	6.82	+0.02	Minor	5,980
4	May 9, 2009	6.67	−0.13	Action	5,640
5	May 23, 1995	6.39	−0.41	Action	5,330
6	May 20, 2005	5.96	−0.84	Below flood stage	4,390
7	May 18, 1994	5.88	−0.92	Below flood stage	4,350

The worst floods along the Rio Chama

For this gauge's highest crests, the other gauges on the Rio Chama that crested above flood stage within a week.

May 7, 1985: 7.08 ft here, minor flooding

AbiquiuNM · May 14, 1985 · 5.52 ft · Minor · its highest

May 17, 1941: 6.89 ft here, minor flooding

ChamitaNM · May 14, 1941 · 9.50 ft · Moderate

Gauges on the Rio Chama

In USGS station-number order, which runs downstream within a river basin.

Flood gauges on the Rio Chama

El Vado Dam this gauge	NM	6.8	7.08 ft, May 7, 1985	0
Abiquiu	NM	5.4	5.52 ft, May 14, 1985	0
Chamita	NM	6.0	11.68 ft, Aug 14, 1994	1

Other gauges in Rio Arriba County

Flood gauges in Rio Arriba County

Abiquiu	5.4	5.52 ft, May 14, 1985	0
Chamita	6.0	11.68 ft, Aug 14, 1994	1
Embudo	10.0	15.90 ft, Jun 19, 1903	1
Espanola	9.5	10.40 ft, May 15, 1941	0
La Madera	7.0	10.32 ft, Aug 25, 2025	1

Rio Arriba County: every hazard · River floods across the country · New Mexico

NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge RCEN5, retrieved October 30, 2026. Stages in feet on the gauge's own datum, not elevation. Crests are as the National Weather Service lists them; preliminary values may be revised.