diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 2faaeb42..548d4878 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+**05/08/2026:** Fixed two latent bugs in the paginated `waterdata` request loop (`_walk_pages` and `get_stats_data`). Previously, when `requests.Session.request(...)` itself raised mid-pagination (network error, timeout), the except block called `_error_body()` on the *prior page's* response, so the logged "error" described the wrong request and could itself crash on non-JSON bodies. Separately, no status-code check was performed on subsequent paginated responses, so a 5xx body that didn't include `numberReturned` was silently treated as an empty page — pagination quietly stopped and the user got truncated data with no error logged. The loop now status-checks each page like the initial request and reports the actual exception. The "best-effort" behavior (return whatever pages were collected) is preserved.
+
 **05/06/2026:** Each remaining active function in `dataretrieval.nwis` now emits a per-function `DeprecationWarning` naming the `waterdata` replacement to migrate to (visible the first time users call each getter). The `nwis` module is scheduled for removal on or after **2027-05-06**.
 
 **05/06/2026:** Added `waterdata.get_ratings(...)` — wraps the new Water Data STAC catalog (`api.waterdata.usgs.gov/stac/v0/search`) for USGS stage-discharge rating curves. Returns parsed `exsa` / `base` / `corr` rating tables as a dict of DataFrames keyed by feature ID, or just the list of available STAC features when `download_and_parse=False`. Mirrors R's `read_waterdata_ratings`.
diff --git a/dataretrieval/waterdata/utils.py b/dataretrieval/waterdata/utils.py
index 784f2969..7756e101 100644
--- a/dataretrieval/waterdata/utils.py
+++ b/dataretrieval/waterdata/utils.py
@@ -635,11 +635,18 @@ def _walk_pages(
                     headers=headers,
                     data=content if method == "POST" else None,
                 )
+                # Mirror the initial-request check; otherwise a 5xx body
+                # without "numberReturned" silently yields an empty frame
+                # and the loop quietly stops.
+                if resp.status_code != 200:
+                    raise RuntimeError(_error_body(resp))
                 dfs.append(_get_resp_data(resp, geopd=geopd))
                 curr_url = _next_req_url(resp)
-            except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001
-                error_text = _error_body(resp)
-                logger.error("Request incomplete. %s", error_text)
+            except Exception as e:  # noqa: BLE001
+                # Report the *actual* failure — not _error_body(resp) on a
+                # stale prior-page response (which would describe the wrong
+                # request and can itself raise on non-JSON bodies).
+                logger.error("Request incomplete: %s", e)
                 logger.warning(
                     "Request failed for URL: %s. Data download interrupted.", curr_url
                 )
@@ -1099,14 +1106,15 @@ def get_stats_data(
                     params=args,
                     headers=headers,
                 )
+                if resp.status_code != 200:
+                    raise RuntimeError(_error_body(resp))
                 body = resp.json()
                 all_dfs.append(_handle_stats_nesting(body, geopd=GEOPANDAS))
                 next_token = body["next"]
-            except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001
-                error_text = _error_body(resp)
-                logger.error("Request incomplete. %s", error_text)
+            except Exception as e:  # noqa: BLE001
+                logger.error("Request incomplete: %s", e)
                 logger.warning(
-                    "Request failed for URL: %s. Data download interrupted.", resp.url
+                    "Request failed for URL: %s. Data download interrupted.", url
                 )
                 next_token = None
 
diff --git a/tests/waterdata_utils_test.py b/tests/waterdata_utils_test.py
index 8151ab37..3008be15 100644
--- a/tests/waterdata_utils_test.py
+++ b/tests/waterdata_utils_test.py
@@ -86,6 +86,93 @@ def test_walk_pages_multiple_mocked():
     assert mock_client.request.call_args[0][1] == "https://example.com/page2"
 
 
+def _resp_ok(features):
+    """Build a 200-OK mock response carrying the given features list."""
+    resp = mock.MagicMock()
+    resp.json.return_value = {
+        "numberReturned": len(features),
+        "features": features,
+        "links": [{"rel": "next", "href": "https://example.com/page2"}]
+        if features
+        else [],
+    }
+    resp.headers = {}
+    resp.links = {"next": {"url": "https://example.com/page2"}} if features else {}
+    resp.status_code = 200
+    resp.url = "https://example.com/page1"
+    return resp
+
+
+def _walk_pages_with_failure(failure_resp_or_exc):
+    """Run _walk_pages where page 1 succeeds and page 2 fails as given."""
+    resp1 = _resp_ok([{"id": "1", "properties": {"val": "a"}}])
+
+    mock_client = mock.MagicMock(spec=requests.Session)
+    mock_client.send.return_value = resp1
+    if isinstance(failure_resp_or_exc, BaseException):
+        mock_client.request.side_effect = failure_resp_or_exc
+    else:
+        mock_client.request.return_value = failure_resp_or_exc
+
+    mock_req = mock.MagicMock(spec=requests.PreparedRequest)
+    mock_req.method = "GET"
+    mock_req.headers = {}
+    mock_req.url = "https://example.com/page1"
+
+    return _walk_pages(geopd=False, req=mock_req, client=mock_client)
+
+
+def test_walk_pages_logs_actual_exception_when_request_raises(caplog):
+    """When client.request() itself raises (e.g. a connection error), the
+    logged failure must reflect that exception — not _error_body() on the
+    stale prior-page response, which described the wrong request and could
+    itself crash on non-JSON bodies."""
+    import logging
+
+    caplog.set_level(logging.ERROR, logger="dataretrieval.waterdata.utils")
+
+    df, _ = _walk_pages_with_failure(requests.ConnectionError("boom"))
+
+    # First page's data is preserved (best-effort behavior).
+    assert list(df["val"]) == ["a"]
+    # Logged error mentions the actual ConnectionError, not a stale page body.
+    error_messages = [
+        r.getMessage() for r in caplog.records if r.levelno >= logging.ERROR
+    ]
+    assert any("boom" in m for m in error_messages), error_messages
+
+
+def test_walk_pages_surfaces_5xx_mid_pagination(caplog):
+    """A non-200 response on a paginated page must be detected; previously
+    the loop happily called _get_resp_data() on the 5xx body, which —
+    lacking 'numberReturned' — silently produced an empty DataFrame and
+    the loop quietly stopped with no error logged."""
+    import logging
+
+    caplog.set_level(logging.ERROR, logger="dataretrieval.waterdata.utils")
+
+    page2_500 = mock.MagicMock()
+    page2_500.status_code = 503
+    page2_500.json.return_value = {
+        "code": "ServiceUnavailable",
+        "description": "upstream timeout",
+    }
+    page2_500.url = "https://example.com/page2"
+
+    df, _ = _walk_pages_with_failure(page2_500)
+
+    assert list(df["val"]) == ["a"]
+    error_messages = [
+        r.getMessage() for r in caplog.records if r.levelno >= logging.ERROR
+    ]
+    # The 5xx is now visible in the error log (it would previously have
+    # been silently swallowed because _get_resp_data returned an empty
+    # frame and the loop stopped quietly).
+    assert any("503" in m or "ServiceUnavailable" in m for m in error_messages), (
+        error_messages
+    )
+
+
 def test_handle_stats_nesting_tolerates_missing_drop_columns():
     """If the upstream stats response shape ever changes such that one of
     the columns we try to drop ("type", "properties.data") is absent, the