lakedates.com

Arkansas · USACE Little Rock District (SWL), Dardanelle Lock & Dam

Lake Dardanelle water level

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

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

FULL POOL 334 336 338
Elevation, feet (NGVD29)

as of October 1, 2026

337.67 ft NGVD29

level 0.3 ft below full pool — typical for early October

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 Lake Dardanelle full?

Not quite — 0.3 ft below full pool as of October 1, 2026

How full is Lake Dardanelle? 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.

Lake Dardanelle through the year

The band is the lake's own normal: where the level has run on each calendar day, 1990–2026. The summer drawdown — and how this year sits in it — shows up without reading a single number.

full pool 337 337.5 338 338.5 JFMAMJJASOND
Median and normal range by day of year, 1990–2026 · elevation, feet (NGVD29)

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 336 337 338 339 JFMAMJJASOND
  • 2026 (this year)
  • 2025 (last year)
  • 2019 (wettest on record)
  • 1998 (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 338.00 ft NGVD29 · per USACE Little Rock District (SWL), Dardanelle Lock & Dam full-pool reference
Gauge USACE lake gauge · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data
Datum NGVD29 — 338.0 ft = CWMS 'Top of Normal' (operating range 336.0-338.2). Navigation pool on the Arkansas River, held near full year-round. Headwater series = pool at the dam, not tailwater.
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 Lake Dardanelle today?

Lake Dardanelle is at 337.67 ft (NGVD29) as of October 1, 2026 — 0.3 ft below full pool — typical for early October.

Is Lake Dardanelle full?

Not quite — at 337.67 ft on October 1, 2026, Lake Dardanelle is 0.3 ft below its full pool of 338.00 ft (NGVD29).

How full is Lake Dardanelle?

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 Lake Dardanelle?

Full pool (the conservation pool) for Lake Dardanelle is 338.00 ft NGVD29, per USACE Little Rock District (SWL), Dardanelle Lock & Dam full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.