97.81 ft Duke plant datum (100 ft full pond)
level 2.2 ft below full pool — this gauge's public record is too short for seasonal comparisons
Reading comes straight from NOAA National Water Prediction Service (NOAA gauge BRWN7) and updates live when you load this page.
Is Lake James full?
Not quite — 2.2 ft below full pool as of September 24, 2026
How full is Lake James? 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.
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 | 100.00 ft Duke plant datum (100 ft full pond) · per Duke Energy full-pool reference |
|---|---|
| Gauge | NOAA gauge BRWN7 · NOAA National Water Prediction Service |
| Datum | Duke plant datum (100 ft full pond) — NWPS gauge zero documented at 1,100 ft NGVD29, so 100 ft plant datum = 1,200 ft msl full pond (NWS action stage here is 101). |
| 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 James today?
Lake James is at 97.81 ft (Duke plant datum (100 ft full pond)) as of September 24, 2026 — 2.2 ft below full pool — this gauge's public record is too short for seasonal comparisons.
Is Lake James full?
Not quite — at 97.81 ft on September 24, 2026, Lake James is 2.2 ft below its full pool of 100.00 ft (Duke plant datum (100 ft full pond)).
How full is Lake James?
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 James?
Full pool (the conservation pool) for Lake James is 100.00 ft Duke plant datum (100 ft full pond), per Duke Energy full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.