1039.70 ft USBR datum (ft above MSL)
level 179.9 ft below full pool — unusually low for mid-August
Reading comes straight from Bureau of Reclamation RISE (Reclamation RISE item 6123) and updates live when you load this page.
Lake Mead 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.
- 1983 (wettest on record)
- 2022 (driest on record)
- 2025 (last year)
- 2026 (this 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 | 1219.60 ft USBR datum (ft above MSL) · per USBR Lower Colorado Basin Region full-pool reference |
|---|---|
| Conservation capacity | 26,120,000 acre-feet · per USBR Lower Colorado Basin Region capacity reference |
| Gauge | Reclamation RISE item 6123 · Bureau of Reclamation RISE |
| Datum | USBR datum (ft above MSL) — RISE daily values in ft, USBR project datum; matches the 1219.6 full-pool convention. RISE needs Accept: application/vnd.api+json; results newest-first, 25/page. USGS site 09421500 exists but returns no current elevation data. |
| 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 Lake Mead right now?
Lake Mead is at 1039.70 ft (USBR datum (ft above MSL)) as of August 14, 2026 — 179.9 ft below full pool — unusually low for mid-August
Is Lake Mead full?
Not quite — at 1039.70 ft, Lake Mead is 179.9 ft below its full pool of 1219.60 ft (USBR datum (ft above MSL)).
What is full pool for Lake Mead?
Full pool (the conservation pool) for Lake Mead is 1219.60 ft USBR datum (ft above MSL), per USBR Lower Colorado Basin Region full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.