1216.11 ft NGVD29
level 0.5 ft below full pool — on the low side for mid-August
Reading comes straight from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data (USACE series MissHW_Sandy.Elev.Inst.15Minutes.0.rev-NGVD29) and updates live when you load this page.
Big Sandy Lake through the year
The band is the lake's own normal: where the level has run on each calendar day, 2015–2026. 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.
- 2026 (this year)
- 2025 (last year)
- 2022 (wettest on record)
- 2021 (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 | 1216.56 ft NGVD29 · per USACE St. Paul District (Sandy Lake Dam) full-pool reference |
|---|---|
| Conservation capacity | 64,285 acre-feet · per USACE St. Paul District (Sandy Lake Dam) capacity reference |
| Gauge | USACE series MissHW_Sandy.Elev.Inst.15Minutes.0.rev-NGVD29 · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data |
| Datum | NGVD29 — 1216.56 ft is the district's top of normal pool figure, in the same NGVD29 datum as the gauge. |
| Last verified | August 20, 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 Big Sandy Lake right now?
Big Sandy Lake is at 1216.11 ft (NGVD29) as of August 20, 2026 — 0.5 ft below full pool — on the low side for mid-August
Is Big Sandy Lake full?
Not quite — at 1216.11 ft, Big Sandy Lake is 0.5 ft below its full pool of 1216.56 ft (NGVD29).
What is full pool for Big Sandy Lake?
Full pool (the conservation pool) for Big Sandy Lake is 1216.56 ft NGVD29, per USACE St. Paul District (Sandy Lake Dam) full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.