7075.53 ft USBR project datum
level 110.6 ft below full pool — unusually low for mid-August
Reading comes straight from Bureau of Reclamation RISE (Reclamation RISE item 421) and updates live when you load this page.
Heron Lake through the year
The band is the lake's own normal: where the level has run on each calendar day, 1980–2026. 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.
- 1992 (wettest on record)
- 2026 (driest on record)
- 2025 (last year)
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 | 7186.10 ft USBR project datum · per USBR San Juan-Chama Project full-pool reference |
|---|---|
| Conservation capacity | 401,000 acre-feet · per USBR San Juan-Chama Project capacity reference |
| Gauge | Reclamation RISE item 421 · Bureau of Reclamation RISE |
| Datum | USBR project datum — Top of active conservation 7,186.1 ft per USBR projects page; ~110 ft below full at verification (chronically low). |
| 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
How full is Heron Lake right now?
Heron Lake is at 7075.53 ft (USBR project datum) as of August 14, 2026 — 110.6 ft below full pool — unusually low for mid-August
Is Heron Lake full?
Not quite — at 7075.53 ft, Heron Lake is 110.6 ft below its full pool of 7186.10 ft (USBR project datum).
What is full pool for Heron Lake?
Full pool (the conservation pool) for Heron Lake is 7186.10 ft USBR project datum, per USBR San Juan-Chama Project full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.