1595.43 ft NGVD29
level 21.6 ft below full pool — typical for mid-August
Reading comes straight from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data (USACE series OAHE.Elev.Inst.1Hour.0.Best-MRBWM) and updates live when you load this page.
Lake Oahe 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)
- 2006 (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 | 1617.00 ft NGVD29 · per USACE Omaha District / Missouri River Basin Water Management full-pool reference |
|---|---|
| Conservation capacity | 21,876,000 acre-feet · per USACE Omaha District / Missouri River Basin Water Management capacity reference |
| Gauge | USACE series OAHE.Elev.Inst.1Hour.0.Best-MRBWM · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data |
| Datum | NGVD29 — 1617.0 = top of multipurpose zone (base of exclusive flood control 1617-1620), NGVD29; capacity is storage at that level. |
| 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 Oahe right now?
Lake Oahe is at 1595.43 ft (NGVD29) as of August 15, 2026 — 21.6 ft below full pool — typical for mid-August
Is Lake Oahe full?
Not quite — at 1595.43 ft, Lake Oahe is 21.6 ft below its full pool of 1617.00 ft (NGVD29).
What is full pool for Lake Oahe?
Full pool (the conservation pool) for Lake Oahe is 1617.00 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.