4138.99 ft USBRKB (Reclamation Klamath Basin datum)
level 4.3 ft below full pool — typical for late September
Reading comes straight from U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System (USGS gauge 11507000) and updates live when you load this page.
Is Upper Klamath Lake full?
Not quite — 4.3 ft below full pool as of September 23, 2026
How full is Upper Klamath 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.
Upper Klamath Lake through the year
The band is the lake's own normal: where the level has run on each calendar day, 1987–2026. 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)
- 1998 (wettest on record)
- 1992 (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 | 4143.30 ft USBRKB (Reclamation Klamath Basin datum) · per Bureau of Reclamation (Link River Dam) full-pool reference |
|---|---|
| Conservation capacity | 735,000 acre-feet · per Bureau of Reclamation (Link River Dam) capacity reference |
| Gauge | USGS gauge 11507000 · U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System |
| Datum | USBRKB (Reclamation Klamath Basin datum) — Upper Klamath is quoted on Reclamation's Klamath Basin datum, the same frame as its 4,143.3 ft full figure; a nearby gauge reads about 2.1 ft higher on NAVD88. |
| 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 Upper Klamath Lake today?
Upper Klamath Lake is at 4138.99 ft (USBRKB (Reclamation Klamath Basin datum)) as of September 23, 2026 — 4.3 ft below full pool — typical for late September.
Is Upper Klamath Lake full?
Not quite — at 4138.99 ft on September 23, 2026, Upper Klamath Lake is 4.3 ft below its full pool of 4143.30 ft (USBRKB (Reclamation Klamath Basin datum)).
How full is Upper Klamath 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 Upper Klamath Lake?
Full pool (the conservation pool) for Upper Klamath Lake is 4143.30 ft USBRKB (Reclamation Klamath Basin datum), per Bureau of Reclamation (Link River Dam) full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.