North Dakota · Bureau of Reclamation (Jamestown Dam)

Jamestown Reservoir water level

Today's reading against full pool and Jamestown Reservoir's own seasonal history.

FULL POOL 1426 1428 1430 1432 1434
Elevation, feet (project datum)

as of August 20, 2026

1430.69 ft project datum

level 0.3 ft below full pool — typical for mid-August

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


Jamestown 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 1425 1430 1435 1440 1445 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 1400 1420 1440 JFMAMJJASOND
  • 2026 (this year)
  • 2025 (last year)
  • 2011 (wettest on record)
  • 1992 (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 1431.00 ft project datum · per Bureau of Reclamation (Jamestown Dam) full-pool reference
Conservation capacity 30,488 acre-feet · per Bureau of Reclamation (Jamestown Dam) capacity reference
Gauge USACE series JATO.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 Jamestown Reservoir right now?

Jamestown Reservoir is at 1430.69 ft (project datum) as of August 20, 2026 — 0.3 ft below full pool — typical for mid-August

Is Jamestown Reservoir full?

Not quite — at 1430.69 ft, Jamestown Reservoir is 0.3 ft below its full pool of 1431.00 ft (project datum).

What is full pool for Jamestown Reservoir?

Full pool (the conservation pool) for Jamestown Reservoir is 1431.00 ft project datum, per Bureau of Reclamation (Jamestown Dam) full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.