lakedates.com

California · Bureau of Reclamation (Cachuma OMB)

Lake Cachuma water level

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

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

FULL POOL 680 700 720 740
Elevation, feet (Reclamation project datum)

as of September 22, 2026

743.94 ft Reclamation project datum

level 6.1 ft below full pool — on the high side for late September

Reading comes from California DWR — California Data Exchange Center (CDEC station CCH) by way of our own server, which asks the agency each time you load this page and passes on its figure in the agency's own datum, unchanged. Most of these reservoirs report every hour and a few report once a day, so the stamp beside the reading is a time of day for some lakes and a date for others — whichever CDEC put on it. For everything else the agency publishes about this reservoir, go to Lake Cachuma at CDEC.

Is Lake Cachuma full?

Not quite — 6.1 ft below full pool as of September 22, 2026

How full is Lake Cachuma? 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 Cachuma through the year

The band is the lake's own normal: where the level has run on each calendar day, 2007–2026. The summer drawdown — and how this year sits in it — shows up without reading a single number.

full pool 680 700 720 740 JFMAMJJASOND
Median and normal range by day of year, 2007–2026 · elevation, feet (Reclamation project datum)

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 650 700 750 JFMAMJJASOND
  • 2026 (this year)
  • 2025 (last year)
  • 2024 (wettest on record)
  • 2016 (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 750.00 ft Reclamation project datum · per Bureau of Reclamation (Cachuma OMB) full-pool reference
Conservation capacity 193,305 acre-feet · per Bureau of Reclamation (Cachuma OMB) capacity reference
Gauge CDEC station CCH · California DWR — California Data Exchange Center
Datum Reclamation project datum
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 Cachuma today?

Lake Cachuma is at 743.94 ft (Reclamation project datum) as of September 22, 2026 — 6.1 ft below full pool — on the high side for late September.

Is Lake Cachuma full?

Not quite — at 743.94 ft on September 22, 2026, Lake Cachuma is 6.1 ft below its full pool of 750.00 ft (Reclamation project datum).

How full is Lake Cachuma?

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 Cachuma?

Full pool (the conservation pool) for Lake Cachuma is 750.00 ft Reclamation project datum, per Bureau of Reclamation (Cachuma OMB) full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.