North Dakota · USACE Omaha District

Bowman-Haley Reservoir water level

Today's reading against full pool and Bowman-Haley Reservoir's own seasonal history.

FULL POOL 2750 2752 2754
Elevation, feet (project datum)

as of August 20, 2026

2749.14 ft project datum

level 5.7 ft below full pool — unusually low for mid-August

Reading comes straight from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data (USACE series BOHA.Elev.Inst.1Hour.0.Best-NWO) and updates live when you load this page.


Bowman-Haley Reservoir 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 2750 2752 2754 2756 JFMAMJJASOND
Median and normal range by day of year, 1990–2026 · elevation, feet (project datum)

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 2700 2720 2740 JFMAMJJASOND
  • 2026 (this year)
  • 2025 (last year)
  • 1993 (wettest on record)
  • 1991 (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 2754.80 ft project datum · per USACE Omaha District full-pool reference
Conservation capacity 17,632 acre-feet · per USACE Omaha District capacity reference
Gauge USACE series BOHA.Elev.Inst.1Hour.0.Best-NWO · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data
Datum project datum — The district publishes the gauge and the top of conservation pool figure in the project's own datum, so the two compare like for like.
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 Bowman-Haley Reservoir right now?

Bowman-Haley Reservoir is at 2749.14 ft (project datum) as of August 20, 2026 — 5.7 ft below full pool — unusually low for mid-August

Is Bowman-Haley Reservoir full?

Not quite — at 2749.14 ft, Bowman-Haley Reservoir is 5.7 ft below its full pool of 2754.80 ft (project datum).

What is full pool for Bowman-Haley Reservoir?

Full pool (the conservation pool) for Bowman-Haley Reservoir is 2754.80 ft project datum, per USACE Omaha District full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.