Lake Mead water level

What this means

Lake Mead is far below normal for mid-October, with the lake level at 1,037.31 ft.

That puts it 78.40 ft below the median of 1,115.71 ft for mid-October, based on 36 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 1,057.59 ft (−20.28 ft).

It has dropped 0.34 ft over the past week. With the water still dropping, the shoreline keeps moving out. In the last month it has stayed between 1,037.31 ft and 1,038.32 ft.

Many reservoirs are drawn down through summer and fall; most of the refill comes later, with winter rain or spring snowmelt.

Largest reservoir in the United States by capacity, formed by Hoover Dam on the Colorado River. Operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Compared with 36 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels

Key numbers

Median for this date

1,115.71 ft78.40 ft below the median for this date

Normal for this date

1,065.90 ft – 1,196.58 ft8 years in 10 fall in this range (36 years of records)

Same day last year

1,057.59 ft−20.28 ft

Lowest and highest in 30 days

1,037.31 ft – 1,038.32 ft

Lowest and highest in 12 months

1,037.43 ft – 1,066.14 ft

Full pool

1,229.00 ft191.69 ft below full pool

Dead pool

895.00 ft142.31 ft above dead pool

Capacity

26,104,965 acre‑ft26.0 % of capacity