South Dakota · Bureau of Reclamation (Shadehill Dam)

Shadehill Reservoir water level

Today's reading against full pool and Shadehill Reservoir's own seasonal history.

FULL POOL 2264 2266 2268 2270 2272
Elevation, feet (project datum)

as of August 20, 2026

2266.53 ft project datum

level 5.5 ft below full pool — typical for mid-August

Reading comes straight from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data (USACE series SHHI.Elev.Inst.1Hour.0.Best-NWO) and updates live when you load this page.


Shadehill Reservoir 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 2260 2265 2270 2275 JFMAMJJASOND
Median and normal range by day of year, 1990–2026 · elevation, feet (project datum)

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 2100 2200 2300 2400 JFMAMJJASOND
  • 2026 (this year)
  • 2025 (last year)
  • 2019 (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 2272.00 ft project datum · per Bureau of Reclamation (Shadehill Dam) full-pool reference
Conservation capacity 120,172 acre-feet · per Bureau of Reclamation (Shadehill Dam) capacity reference
Gauge USACE series SHHI.Elev.Inst.1Hour.0.Best-NWO · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Access to Water data
Datum project datum — The district publishes the gauge and the top of conservation pool figure in the project's own datum, so the two compare like for like.
Last verified August 20, 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 Shadehill Reservoir right now?

Shadehill Reservoir is at 2266.53 ft (project datum) as of August 20, 2026 — 5.5 ft below full pool — typical for mid-August

Is Shadehill Reservoir full?

Not quite — at 2266.53 ft, Shadehill Reservoir is 5.5 ft below its full pool of 2272.00 ft (project datum).

What is full pool for Shadehill Reservoir?

Full pool (the conservation pool) for Shadehill Reservoir is 2272.00 ft project datum, per Bureau of Reclamation (Shadehill Dam) full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.