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

Lewis and Clark Lake water level

Today's reading against full pool and Lewis and Clark Lake's own seasonal history.

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

FULL POOL 1204 1206 1208
Elevation, feet (NGVD29)

as of September 24, 2026

1207.82 ft NGVD29

level 0.2 ft below full pool — on the high side 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 Lewis and Clark Lake full?

Not quite — 0.2 ft below full pool as of September 24, 2026

How full is Lewis and Clark 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.


Lewis and Clark Lake 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 1205 1206 1207 1208 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 1205 1206 1207 1208 1209 JFMAMJJASOND
  • 2026 (this year)
  • 2025 (last year)
  • 2007 (wettest on record)
  • 1990 (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 1208.00 ft NGVD29 · per USACE Omaha District / Missouri River Basin Water Management full-pool reference
Conservation capacity 374,000 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 — 1208.0 = top of multipurpose zone; normal operating band is 1206-1208.5, 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 Lewis and Clark Lake today?

Lewis and Clark Lake is at 1207.82 ft (NGVD29) as of September 24, 2026 — 0.2 ft below full pool — on the high side for late September.

Is Lewis and Clark Lake full?

Not quite — at 1207.82 ft on September 24, 2026, Lewis and Clark Lake is 0.2 ft below its full pool of 1208.00 ft (NGVD29).

How full is Lewis and Clark 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 Lewis and Clark Lake?

Full pool (the conservation pool) for Lewis and Clark Lake is 1208.00 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.