758.24 ft NAVD88
level 9.8 ft below full pool — typical for late September
Reading comes straight from U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System (USGS gauge 01323500) and updates live when you load this page.
Is Great Sacandaga Lake full?
Not quite — 9.8 ft below full pool as of September 24, 2026
How full is Great Sacandaga Lake? Not as a percentage: no storage figure comes through with this gauge reading, and a share of capacity worked out from the elevation alone would be a guess — how much water a reservoir holds at a given level is a curve only the operator's own capacity table knows. Feet from full pool is what the operator publishes, and it is the figure above.
Great Sacandaga 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.
- 2026 (this year)
- 2025 (last year)
- 2006 (wettest on record)
- 1980 (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 | 768.00 ft NAVD88 · per Hudson River-Black River Regulating District (HRBRRD) full-pool reference |
|---|---|
| Gauge | USGS gauge 01323500 · U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System |
| Datum | NAVD88 — 768 ft is the springtime maximum target, not a level the lake holds: it is drafted on purpose through summer and fall toward a 748 ft minimum, so well below full is normal here. |
| 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
What is the lake level for Great Sacandaga Lake today?
Great Sacandaga Lake is at 758.24 ft (NAVD88) as of September 24, 2026 — 9.8 ft below full pool — typical for late September.
Is Great Sacandaga Lake full?
Not quite — at 758.24 ft on September 24, 2026, Great Sacandaga Lake is 9.8 ft below its full pool of 768.00 ft (NAVD88).
How full is Great Sacandaga Lake?
Not as a percentage: no storage figure comes through with this gauge reading, and a share of capacity worked out from the elevation alone would be a guess — how much water a reservoir holds at a given level is a curve only the operator's own capacity table knows. Feet from full pool is what the operator publishes, and it is the figure above.
What is full pool for Great Sacandaga Lake?
Full pool (the conservation pool) for Great Sacandaga Lake is 768.00 ft NAVD88, per Hudson River-Black River Regulating District (HRBRRD) full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.