Minnesota · USACE St. Paul District (MVP)

Leech Lake water level

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

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

FULL POOL 1290 1292 1294
Elevation, feet (NGVD29)

as of September 24, 2026

1294.05 ft NGVD29

level 0.9 ft below full pool — typical for late September

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 Leech Lake full?

Not quite — 0.9 ft below full pool as of September 24, 2026

How full is Leech Lake? 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.


Leech 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 1293 1294 1295 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 1293 1294 1295 JFMAMJJASOND
  • 2026 (this year)
  • 2025 (last year)
  • 1999 (wettest on record)
  • 2006 (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 1294.90 ft NGVD29 · per USACE St. Paul District (MVP) full-pool reference
Gauge USACE lake gauge · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data
Datum NGVD29 — 1294.9 ft = CWMS 'Top of Normal' (Bottom of Normal 1294.5; regulating band seasonal 1293.8-1294.7).
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 Leech Lake today?

Leech Lake is at 1294.05 ft (NGVD29) as of September 24, 2026 — 0.9 ft below full pool — typical for late September.

Is Leech Lake full?

Not quite — at 1294.05 ft on September 24, 2026, Leech Lake is 0.9 ft below its full pool of 1294.90 ft (NGVD29).

How full is Leech Lake?

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 Leech Lake?

Full pool (the conservation pool) for Leech Lake is 1294.90 ft NGVD29, per USACE St. Paul District (MVP) full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.