356.84 ft Saluda plant datum
level 3.2 ft below full pool — typical for mid-August
Reading comes straight from U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System (USGS gauge 02168500) and updates live when you load this page.
Lake Murray 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.
- 2015 (wettest on record)
- 2003 (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 | 360.00 ft Saluda plant datum · per Dominion Energy South Carolina full-pool reference |
|---|---|
| Gauge | USGS gauge 02168500 · U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System |
| Datum | Saluda plant datum — Dominion Lake Management doc: 'the 360-foot contour is based on plant datum (PD), and is the normal maximum pool elevation'. USGS 00062 reads plant-datum feet; the same gauge's 62615 (NAVD88) reads ~1.3 ft lower. |
| 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 Murray right now?
Lake Murray is at 356.84 ft (Saluda plant datum) as of August 14, 2026 — 3.2 ft below full pool — typical for mid-August
Is Lake Murray full?
Not quite — at 356.84 ft, Lake Murray is 3.2 ft below its full pool of 360.00 ft (Saluda plant datum).
What is full pool for Lake Murray?
Full pool (the conservation pool) for Lake Murray is 360.00 ft Saluda plant datum, per Dominion Energy South Carolina full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.