Illinois · USACE St. Louis District

Carlyle Lake water level

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

FULL POOL 440 442 444 446 448
Elevation, feet (NGVD29)

as of August 15, 2026

445.16 ft NGVD29

level 0.2 ft above full pool — typical for mid-August

Reading comes straight from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data (USACE series Carlyle Lk-Kaskaskia.Elev.Inst.30Minutes.0.lrgsShef-rev) and updates live when you load this page.


Carlyle Lake 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 445 450 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 445 450 455 JFMAMJJASOND
  • 1993 (wettest on record)
  • 2007 (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 445.00 ft NGVD29 · per USACE St. Louis District full-pool reference
Conservation capacity 242,582 acre-feet · per USACE St. Louis District capacity reference
Gauge USACE series Carlyle Lk-Kaskaskia.Elev.Inst.30Minutes.0.lrgsShef-rev · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data
Datum NGVD29 — Top of conservation 445.0 NGVD29 (MVS series naming includes explicit NGVD-29 variants). Daily historical series MVDhist-rev verified back to 1975.
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 Carlyle Lake right now?

Carlyle Lake is at 445.16 ft (NGVD29) as of August 15, 2026 — 0.2 ft above full pool — typical for mid-August

Is Carlyle Lake full?

Yes and then some — at 445.16 ft, Carlyle Lake is 0.2 ft above its full pool of 445.00 ft (NGVD29), using flood storage.

What is full pool for Carlyle Lake?

Full pool (the conservation pool) for Carlyle Lake is 445.00 ft NGVD29, per USACE St. Louis District full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.