1355.48 ft NGVD29
level 9.5 ft below full pool — typical for mid-August
Reading comes straight from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data (USACE series FTRA.Elev.Inst.1Hour.0.Best-MRBWM) and updates live when you load this page.
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.
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.
- 1997 (wettest on record)
- 2002 (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 | 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 series FTRA.Elev.Inst.1Hour.0.Best-MRBWM · 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
How full is Lake Francis Case right now?
Lake Francis Case is at 1355.48 ft (NGVD29) as of August 15, 2026 — 9.5 ft below full pool — typical for mid-August
Is Lake Francis Case full?
Not quite — at 1355.48 ft, Lake Francis Case is 9.5 ft below its full pool of 1365.00 ft (NGVD29).
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.