lakedates.com

Alabama · Alabama Power (APC)

Lay Lake water level

Today's reading against full pool and Lay Lake's own seasonal history.

Searched “Lay lake level” or “lake level for Lay Lake”? Same lake, same reading — you're in the right place. The current reading is right here too, whether you typed “current Lay Lake water level” or “current water level at Lay Lake”.

FULL POOL 392 394 396
Elevation, feet (APC datum (ft MSL))

as of September 24, 2026

395.56 ft APC datum (ft MSL)

level 0.4 ft below full pool — on the low side for late September

Reading comes straight from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data (USACE lake gauge) and updates live when you load this page.

Is Lay Lake full?

Not quite — 0.4 ft below full pool as of September 24, 2026

How full is Lay Lake? Not as a percentage: no storage figure comes through with this gauge reading, and a share of capacity worked out from the elevation alone would be a guess — how much water a reservoir holds at a given level is a curve only the operator's own capacity table knows. Feet from full pool is what the operator publishes, and it is the figure above.

Lay Lake through the year

The band is the lake's own normal: where the level has run on each calendar day, 2017–2026. The summer drawdown — and how this year sits in it — shows up without reading a single number.

full pool 393 394 395 396 JFMAMJJASOND
Median and normal range by day of year, 2017–2026 · elevation, feet (APC datum (ft MSL))

This year vs the years that matter

This year's trace against last year and the driest and wettest years on record — the drought-context question every lake regular asks.

full pool 393 394 395 396 JFMAMJJASOND
  • 2026 (this year)
  • 2025 (last year)
  • 2019 (wettest on record)
  • 2023 (driest on record)

Full pool, datum, and the gauge

"Full pool" here means the conservation pool — the level the lake is designed to hold for water supply and recreation, not the flood-control space above it. The full explainer covers flood pool and dead pool too.

Full pool 396.00 ft APC datum (ft MSL) · per Alabama Power (APC) full-pool reference
Gauge USACE lake gauge · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data
Datum APC datum (ft MSL) — Live = NWPS 'Coosa River at Lay Dam' pool gauge. Full pool 396 ft per APC Shorelines reservoir facts (no APC guide-curve series in CWMS for Lay).
Last verified August 15, 2026

LakeDates reports lake level, not ramp status. Whether a given ramp or marina is usable at this level varies ramp by ramp — call the marina before you tow.

Quick answers

What is the lake level for Lay Lake today?

Lay Lake is at 395.56 ft (APC datum (ft MSL)) as of September 24, 2026 — 0.4 ft below full pool — on the low side for late September.

Is Lay Lake full?

Not quite — at 395.56 ft on September 24, 2026, Lay Lake is 0.4 ft below its full pool of 396.00 ft (APC datum (ft MSL)).

How full is Lay Lake?

Not as a percentage: no storage figure comes through with this gauge reading, and a share of capacity worked out from the elevation alone would be a guess — how much water a reservoir holds at a given level is a curve only the operator's own capacity table knows. Feet from full pool is what the operator publishes, and it is the figure above.

What is full pool for Lay Lake?

Full pool (the conservation pool) for Lay Lake is 396.00 ft APC datum (ft MSL), per Alabama Power (APC) full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.