658.90 ft project datum (NGVD29-era)
level 0.1 ft below full pool — typical for mid-August
Reading comes straight from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data (USACE series Bull_Shoals_Dam-Headwater.Elev.Inst.1Hour.0.Decodes-rev) and updates live when you load this page.
Bull Shoals Lake through the year
The band is the lake's own normal: where the level has run on each calendar day, 1995–2026. The summer drawdown — and how this year sits in it — shows up without reading a single number.
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.
- 2008 (wettest on record)
- 2006 (driest on record)
- 2025 (last year)
- 2026 (this year)
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 | 659.00 ft project datum (NGVD29-era) · per USACE Little Rock District (SWL) full-pool reference |
|---|---|
| Conservation capacity | 1,003,000 acre-feet · per USACE Little Rock District (SWL) capacity reference |
| Gauge | USACE series Bull_Shoals_Dam-Headwater.Elev.Inst.1Hour.0.Decodes-rev · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data |
| Datum | project datum (NGVD29-era) — Full pool = top of power pool 659; flood pool 695. Capacity = SWL power-pool storage. |
| 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
How full is Bull Shoals Lake right now?
Bull Shoals Lake is at 658.90 ft (project datum (NGVD29-era)) as of August 15, 2026 — 0.1 ft below full pool — typical for mid-August
Is Bull Shoals Lake full?
Not quite — at 658.90 ft, Bull Shoals Lake is 0.1 ft below its full pool of 659.00 ft (project datum (NGVD29-era)).
What is full pool for Bull Shoals Lake?
Full pool (the conservation pool) for Bull Shoals Lake is 659.00 ft project datum (NGVD29-era), per USACE Little Rock District (SWL) full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.