3.33 ft USGS 12393000 gauge stage
level 0.3 ft above full pool — unusually high for mid-August
Reading comes straight from U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System (USGS gauge 12393000) and updates live when you load this page.
Priest Lake through the year
The band is the lake's own normal: where the level has run on each calendar day, 1980–2013. 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.
- 1996 (wettest on record)
- 2001 (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 | 3.00 ft USGS 12393000 gauge stage · per Idaho Dept. of Water Resources (Outlet Dam) full-pool reference |
|---|---|
| Gauge | USGS gauge 12393000 · U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System |
| Datum | USGS 12393000 gauge stage — Priest Lake is managed to a STAGE target, not an elevation: 'operations target 3.0 ft at the Priest Lake outlet gage (USGS 12393000) for recreation' (Idaho Code 70-507). Values are gauge feet; lake surface is ~2,438 ft amsl. |
| 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 Priest Lake right now?
Priest Lake is at 3.33 ft (USGS 12393000 gauge stage) as of August 15, 2026 — 0.3 ft above full pool — unusually high for mid-August
Is Priest Lake full?
Yes and then some — at 3.33 ft, Priest Lake is 0.3 ft above its full pool of 3.00 ft (USGS 12393000 gauge stage), using flood storage.
What is full pool for Priest Lake?
Full pool (the conservation pool) for Priest Lake is 3.00 ft USGS 12393000 gauge stage, per Idaho Dept. of Water Resources (Outlet Dam) full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.