288.88 ft NGVD29
level 11.1 ft below full pool — unusually low for late September
Reading comes straight from U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System (USGS gauge 02079490) and updates live when you load this page.
Is Kerr Lake full?
Not quite — 11.1 ft below full pool as of September 24, 2026
How full is Kerr 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.
Kerr Lake through the year
The band is the lake's own normal: where the level has run on each calendar day, 2005–2021. 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.
- 2020 (most recent on record, wettest on record)
- 2012 (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 | 300.00 ft NGVD29 · per USACE Wilmington District full-pool reference |
|---|---|
| Gauge | USGS gauge 02079490 · U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System |
| Datum | NGVD29 — Normal pool is 300 ft: the lake is drawn from 300 down to 268 ft for power, and 300-320 ft is flood storage above it. |
| 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 Kerr Lake today?
Kerr Lake is at 288.88 ft (NGVD29) as of September 24, 2026 — 11.1 ft below full pool — unusually low for late September.
Is Kerr Lake full?
Not quite — at 288.88 ft on September 24, 2026, Kerr Lake is 11.1 ft below its full pool of 300.00 ft (NGVD29).
How full is Kerr 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 Kerr Lake?
Full pool (the conservation pool) for Kerr Lake is 300.00 ft NGVD29, per USACE Wilmington District full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.