382.59 ft NGVD29
level Reading is unusually high for mid-August.
Reading comes straight from U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System (USGS gauge 04233500) and updates live when you load this page.
Cayuga 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.
- 2011 (wettest on record)
- 1995 (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 | not published by the operator |
|---|---|
| Gauge | USGS gauge 04233500 · U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System |
| Datum | NGVD29 — 62614 NGVD29. Local Barge Canal datum (BCD) = NGVD29 + 1.3 ft (NAVD88 + 1.9). Canal Corp rule-curve targets published only as weekly PDF chart (Cayuga-Levels.pdf) — no fixed full-pool number sourced; NWS flood stage 383.5 ft BCD. |
| 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 Cayuga Lake right now?
Cayuga Lake is at 382.59 ft (NGVD29) as of August 14, 2026 — Reading is unusually high for mid-August.
Is Cayuga Lake full?
NYS Canal Corporation (Mud Lock dam); USGS gauge at Ithaca doesn't publish a conservation-pool figure for Cayuga Lake, so this page shows the reading against the lake's own seasonal history instead.
What is full pool for Cayuga Lake?
NYS Canal Corporation (Mud Lock dam); USGS gauge at Ithaca doesn't publish a single conservation-pool elevation for Cayuga Lake. The seasonal chart shows the range the lake actually runs instead.