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Oregon · Bureau of Reclamation

Prineville Reservoir water level

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

Searched “Prineville lake level” or “lake level for Prineville Reservoir”? Same lake, same reading — you're in the right place. The current reading is right here too, whether you typed “current Prineville Reservoir water level” or “current water level at Prineville Reservoir”.

FULL POOL 3180 3200 3220
Elevation, feet (Reclamation Hydromet project datum)

as of September 22, 2026

3178.38 ft Reclamation Hydromet project datum

level 56.4 ft below full pool — unusually low for late September

Reading comes straight from Bureau of Reclamation RISE (Reclamation RISE item 132576) and updates live when you load this page.

Is Prineville Reservoir full?

Not quite — 56.4 ft below full pool as of September 22, 2026

How full is Prineville Reservoir? 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.

Prineville Reservoir 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.

full pool 3180 3200 3220 3240 JFMAMJJASOND
Median and normal range by day of year, 1980–2026 · elevation, feet (Reclamation Hydromet 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 3160 3180 3200 3220 3240 JFMAMJJASOND
  • 2026 (this year)
  • 2025 (last year)
  • 1983 (wettest on record)
  • 2022 (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 3234.80 ft Reclamation Hydromet project datum · per Bureau of Reclamation full-pool reference
Conservation capacity 152,800 acre-feet · per Bureau of Reclamation capacity reference
Gauge Reclamation RISE item 132576 · Bureau of Reclamation RISE
Datum Reclamation Hydromet project datum
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 Prineville Reservoir today?

Prineville Reservoir is at 3178.38 ft (Reclamation Hydromet project datum) as of September 22, 2026 — 56.4 ft below full pool — unusually low for late September.

Is Prineville Reservoir full?

Not quite — at 3178.38 ft on September 22, 2026, Prineville Reservoir is 56.4 ft below its full pool of 3234.80 ft (Reclamation Hydromet project datum).

How full is Prineville Reservoir?

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 Prineville Reservoir?

Full pool (the conservation pool) for Prineville Reservoir is 3234.80 ft Reclamation Hydromet project datum, per Bureau of Reclamation full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.