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South Dakota · USACE Omaha District / Missouri River Basin Water Management

Lake Francis Case water level

Today's reading against full pool and Lake Francis Case's own seasonal history.

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

FULL POOL 1345 1350 1355 1360 1365
Elevation, feet (NGVD29)

as of September 24, 2026

1353.26 ft NGVD29

level 11.7 ft below full pool — typical for late September

Reading comes straight from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data (USACE lake gauge) and updates live when you load this page.

Is Lake Francis Case full?

Not quite — 11.7 ft below full pool as of September 24, 2026

How full is Lake Francis Case? 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.

Lake Francis Case through the year

The band is the lake's own normal: where the level has run on each calendar day, 1990–2026. The summer drawdown — and how this year sits in it — shows up without reading a single number.

full pool 1340 1350 1360 JFMAMJJASOND
Median and normal range by day of year, 1990–2026 · elevation, feet (NGVD29)

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 1340 1350 1360 1370 JFMAMJJASOND
  • 2026 (this year)
  • 2025 (last year)
  • 1997 (wettest on record)
  • 2002 (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 1365.00 ft NGVD29 · per USACE Omaha District / Missouri River Basin Water Management full-pool reference
Conservation capacity 4,307,000 acre-feet · per USACE Omaha District / Missouri River Basin Water Management capacity reference
Gauge USACE lake gauge · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data
Datum NGVD29 — 1365.0 = top of multipurpose zone; normal summer operating target is 1355-1360, so several feet below 1365 is normal, not drought. NGVD29.
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 Lake Francis Case today?

Lake Francis Case is at 1353.26 ft (NGVD29) as of September 24, 2026 — 11.7 ft below full pool — typical for late September.

Is Lake Francis Case full?

Not quite — at 1353.26 ft on September 24, 2026, Lake Francis Case is 11.7 ft below its full pool of 1365.00 ft (NGVD29).

How full is Lake Francis Case?

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 Lake Francis Case?

Full pool (the conservation pool) for Lake Francis Case is 1365.00 ft NGVD29, per USACE Omaha District / Missouri River Basin Water Management full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.