Sources and methods

Every number on Creek & Lake comes from a government source, read by our own jobs and stored with the time it was observed. 518,015 days of lake levels and 17,523 trout stockings so far.

Pages rebuilt from the stored data every day

Where the data comes from

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CWMS data API
Pool elevation for 18 Corps lakes, the seasonal top of conservation (full pool), and storage where the Corps publishes it.
How often we check: Every 6 hours. Last checked: Oct 26, 4:25 PM EDT (ok).
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, RISE
Daily elevation and storage for Mead, Powell, Shasta, Folsom, Elephant Butte and Berryessa; the last 7 days re-read each run because values get revised.
How often we check: Daily. Last checked: Oct 26, 4:25 PM EDT (ok).
Texas Water Development Board, Water Data for Texas
Daily elevation and percent full for 6 Texas lakes; history from each lake's file, read once.
How often we check: Daily. Last checked: Oct 26, 4:25 PM EDT (ok).
U.S. Geological Survey, Water Data APIs
Great Salt Lake level, fill-in days for five Corps lakes, lake water temperature (Falls Lake, Great Salt Lake) and stream flow and temperature for stocked waters.
How often we check: Daily. Last checked: Oct 26, 4:27 PM EDT (ok).
California Department of Water Resources, CDEC
Lake Oroville daily elevation and storage, and fill-in days for Shasta, Folsom and Berryessa.
How often we check: Daily. Last checked: Oct 26, 4:25 PM EDT (ok).
USACE Mobile District, Lake Lanier boat ramp table and ramp map layer
End-of-concrete elevation for 401 ramp lanes, each ramp's position and the Corps' own open or closed flag.
How often we check: Checked by hand monthly (the Corps blocks automated downloads). Last checked: Oct 26, 1:13 PM EDT.
West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
Daily fish stocking report (trout rows), and the state's trout stream and lake maps.
How often we check: Weekday evenings in season. Last checked: Oct 26, 4:28 PM EDT.
Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources
Daily trout stocking report back to October 2016, the monthly advance schedule, and the trout water maps.
How often we check: Daily in season. Last checked: Oct 26, 4:29 PM EDT.
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
The year's trout stocking schedule for all 67 counties, with meeting places and times, and the trout water maps.
How often we check: Daily in season. Last checked: Oct 26, 4:30 PM EDT.
OpenStreetMap
Lake shorelines for the drawings and the Lanier ramp map.
How often we check: Saved once; refreshed by hand. Last checked: 32 lakes, Oct 25, 2026.
Natural Earth
State outlines for the locator and state maps.
How often we check: Saved once. Last checked: Oct 25, 2026.

Every fetched payload is saved as received before it's parsed, so a parser fix can be replayed on old data. If a source fails or returns nothing when it normally has data, the page keeps the last good value with its date and says so.

How each lake is sourced

Beaver Lake
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 1,120.43 ft. USACE CWMS location level "Beaver_Dam.Elev-Pool.Inst.0.Top of Conservation" (refreshed daily; seasonal where the Corps sets a seasonal pool). Checked 2026-10-24. Percent full: Conservation pool between the top of inactive pool and today's top of conservation (seasonal).
Bull Shoals Lake
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 659.00 ft. USACE CWMS location level "Bull_Shoals_Dam.Elev-Pool.Inst.0.Top of Conservation" (refreshed daily; seasonal where the Corps sets a seasonal pool). Checked 2026-10-24. Percent full: Conservation pool between the top of inactive pool and today's top of conservation (seasonal).
Canyon Lake
Level: Texas Water Development Board (official page). Datum: NAVD88 (per TWDB; see CSV header).
Full pool: 909.00 ft. TWDB conservation_pool_elevation from recent-conditions.geojson (refreshed daily). Percent full: TWDB percent full: conservation storage / conservation capacity (storage above dead pool, capped at the conservation pool).
Choke Canyon Reservoir
Level: Texas Water Development Board (official page). Datum: NAVD88 (per TWDB; see CSV header).
Full pool: 220.50 ft. TWDB conservation_pool_elevation from recent-conditions.geojson (refreshed daily). Percent full: TWDB percent full: conservation storage / conservation capacity (storage above dead pool, capped at the conservation pool).
Elephant Butte Lake
Level: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 4,407.00 ft. Bureau of Reclamation project page (usbr.gov/projects/index.php?id=94): top of active conservation pool 4,407.0 ft. TWDB lists 4,405.59 ft on a different survey; open question in the report. Percent full: RISE storage / total storage 2,109,423 af at 4,407 ft (Reclamation project data). Reclamation's headline figure is 2,210,298 af; the project-data value matches the 4,407 ft full pool used here.
Falls Lake
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; U.S. Geological Survey fills missing days (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 251.50 ft. USACE CWMS location level "NEU FLP.Elev.Inst.0.Top of Conservation" (refreshed daily; seasonal where the Corps sets a seasonal pool). Checked 2026-10-24. 251.5 ft. Percent full: Conservation pool between the top of inactive pool (236.5 ft) and the top of conservation (251.5 ft), both priced from the Corps elevation-storage table (2015). The CWMS storage levels (131,395 / 25,073 ac-ft) come from a different survey and disagree with the table by about 4%, so they are not mixed in.
Folsom Lake
Level: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; California Department of Water Resources (CDEC) fills missing days (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 466.00 ft. CDEC station FOL elevation (466 ft), same as the elevation field on RISE location 334. Dam crest is 480.5 ft (CDEC dam profile). Percent full: Total storage / reservoir capacity (977,000 af), as CDEC reports "% of capacity".
Fort Gibson Lake
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 554.00 ft. USACE CWMS location level "FGIB.Elev.Inst.0.Top of Conservation" (refreshed daily; seasonal where the Corps sets a seasonal pool). Checked 2026-10-24. Percent full: Conservation pool between the top of inactive pool and the top of conservation, as the Tulsa District's lake pages define "Conservation pool is X% full".
Great Salt Lake
Level: U.S. Geological Survey; U.S. Geological Survey fills missing days (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: None: Great Salt Lake is a terminal lake with no full pool. Level is the south arm at Saltair Boat Harbor (USGS 10010000, record from 1847). Percent full: not published in the feeds we read.
Jordan Lake
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; U.S. Geological Survey fills missing days (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 216.00 ft. Guide curve 216.0 ft (USACE Wilmington District weekly water management report). Percent full: Conservation pool between the top of inactive pool (202 ft) and the top of conservation (216 ft).
Kerr Lake
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; U.S. Geological Survey fills missing days (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 300.00 ft. Top of conservation pool 300 ft NGVD29 (USACE Kerr Lake water control plan, 2016). The operating guide curve is seasonal, 295.5 to 302 ft. Percent full: Conservation (power) pool between the bottom of power pool (268 ft) and the top of conservation (300 ft). The operating guide curve runs 295.5 to 302 ft, so the lake can read 100% while still below its spring target.
Keystone Lake
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 723.00 ft. USACE CWMS location level "KEYS.Elev.Inst.0.Top of Conservation" (refreshed daily; seasonal where the Corps sets a seasonal pool). Checked 2026-10-24. Percent full: Conservation pool between the top of inactive pool and the top of conservation, as the Tulsa District's lake pages define "Conservation pool is X% full".
Lake Allatoona
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; U.S. Geological Survey fills missing days (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 835.00 ft. USACE CWMS location level "Allatoona.Elev.Inst.0.Top of Conservation" (refreshed daily; seasonal where the Corps sets a seasonal pool). Checked 2026-10-24. Percent full: Conservation pool between the bottom of operating pool (800 ft) and today's seasonal top of conservation.
Lake Berryessa
Level: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; California Department of Water Resources (CDEC) fills missing days (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 440.00 ft. Glory-hole spillway crest, 440 ft (Bureau of Reclamation project page usbr.gov/projects/index.php?id=186). CDEC station BER elevation (456 ft) is the dam crest, not full pool. Percent full: Total storage / reservoir capacity (1,602,000 af), as CDEC reports "% of capacity".
Lake Buchanan
Level: Texas Water Development Board (official page). Datum: NAVD88 (per TWDB; see CSV header).
Full pool: 1,020.00 ft. TWDB conservation_pool_elevation from recent-conditions.geojson (refreshed daily). Percent full: TWDB percent full: conservation storage / conservation capacity (storage above dead pool, capped at the conservation pool).
Lake Corpus Christi
Level: Texas Water Development Board (official page). Datum: NAVD88 (per TWDB; see CSV header).
Full pool: 94.00 ft. TWDB conservation_pool_elevation from recent-conditions.geojson (refreshed daily). Percent full: TWDB percent full: conservation storage / conservation capacity (storage above dead pool, capped at the conservation pool).
Lake Cumberland
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 723.00 ft. USACE CWMS location level "WOLF_CREEK.Elev.Inst.0.Top of Power" (refreshed daily; seasonal where the Corps sets a seasonal pool). Checked 2026-10-24. 723 ft (top of power pool, the summer pool). Percent full: Power pool between the top of inactive pool (673 ft) and the top of power pool (723 ft), priced from the Corps elevation-storage table. CWMS labels Wolf Creek's storage levels inconsistently (its "Top of Inactive" storage equals "Top of Flood"), so the elevation levels are used instead.
Lake Hartwell
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; U.S. Geological Survey fills missing days (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 659.29 ft. USACE CWMS location level "Hartwell.Elev.Inst.0.Top of Conservation" (refreshed daily; seasonal where the Corps sets a seasonal pool). Checked 2026-10-24. Percent full: Conservation pool between the top of inactive pool (625 ft) and today's seasonal top of conservation.
Lake Lanier
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; U.S. Geological Survey fills missing days (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 1,070.59 ft. USACE CWMS location level "Buford.Elev.Inst.0.Top of Conservation" (refreshed daily; seasonal where the Corps sets a seasonal pool). Checked 2026-10-24. 1,071 ft May to Oct, 1,070 ft in winter. Percent full: Conservation pool between the bottom of operating pool (1,035 ft) and today's top of conservation (seasonal: 1,071 ft May to Oct, 1,070 ft in winter).
Lake Mead
Level: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 1,229.00 ft. Hardcoded per plan: 1,229 ft full pool (Bureau of Reclamation; also the elevation field on RISE location 3514). Percent full: RISE storage / available capacity 26,120,000 af (Reclamation Lower Colorado page; capacity measured to the bottom of exclusive flood control space).
Lake Okeechobee
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: None: Okeechobee is managed to a regulation schedule (LOSOM zones), not a full pool. Level is the Corps daily lake-wide average (Best-SAJ-POR, record from 1931). Percent full: not published in the feeds we read.
Lake Oroville
Level: California Department of Water Resources (CDEC) (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 900.00 ft. CDEC station ORO elevation (900 ft). Dam crest is 922 ft (CDEC dam profile). Percent full: Total storage / reservoir capacity (3,424,753 af), as CDEC reports "% of capacity".
Lake Powell
Level: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; U.S. Geological Survey fills missing days (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 3,700.00 ft. Hardcoded per plan: 3,700 ft full pool (Bureau of Reclamation). Percent full: RISE live storage / live capacity at elevation 3,700 ft (24,322,000 af, Reclamation Glen Canyon Dam quick facts). Reclamation's own monthly text reports about 1 point higher ("22 percent of live capacity" for 5.14 maf); the quick-facts capacity likely predates the 2022 sediment survey.
Lake Texoma
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 618.10 ft. USACE CWMS location level "DENI.Elev.Inst.0.Top of Conservation" (refreshed daily; seasonal where the Corps sets a seasonal pool). Checked 2026-10-24. Percent full: Conservation pool between the top of inactive pool and the top of conservation, as the Tulsa District's lake pages define "Conservation pool is X% full".
Lake Travis
Level: Texas Water Development Board (official page). Datum: NAVD88 (per TWDB; see CSV header).
Full pool: 681.00 ft. TWDB conservation_pool_elevation from recent-conditions.geojson (refreshed daily). Percent full: TWDB percent full: conservation storage / conservation capacity (storage above dead pool, capped at the conservation pool).
Medina Lake
Level: Texas Water Development Board (official page). Datum: NAVD88 (per TWDB; see CSV header).
Full pool: 1,064.20 ft. TWDB conservation_pool_elevation from recent-conditions.geojson (refreshed daily). Percent full: TWDB percent full: conservation storage / conservation capacity (storage above dead pool, capped at the conservation pool).
Nolin River Lake
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 515.00 ft. USACE CWMS location level "Nolin.Elev.Inst.0.Top of Conservation" (refreshed daily; seasonal where the Corps sets a seasonal pool). Checked 2026-10-24. 515 ft summer pool. Percent full: Total storage / storage at the top of conservation (summer pool). The Corps publishes no inactive-pool storage for this lake, so this counts all water in the lake, not just the conservation pool.
Oologah Lake
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 638.00 ft. USACE CWMS location level "OOLO.Elev.Inst.0.Top of Conservation" (refreshed daily; seasonal where the Corps sets a seasonal pool). Checked 2026-10-24. Percent full: Conservation pool between the top of inactive pool and the top of conservation, as the Tulsa District's lake pages define "Conservation pool is X% full".
Rough River Lake
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 495.00 ft. USACE CWMS location level "Rough.Elev.Inst.0.Top of Conservation" (refreshed daily; seasonal where the Corps sets a seasonal pool). Checked 2026-10-24. 495 ft summer pool. Percent full: Total storage / storage at the top of conservation (summer pool). The Corps publishes no inactive-pool storage for this lake, so this counts all water in the lake, not just the conservation pool.
Shasta Lake
Level: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; California Department of Water Resources (CDEC) fills missing days (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 1,067.00 ft. CDEC station SHA elevation (1,067 ft), same as the elevation field on RISE location 471. Dam crest is 1,077.5 ft (CDEC dam profile). Percent full: Total storage / reservoir capacity (4,552,000 af), as CDEC reports "% of capacity".
Summersville Lake
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 1,652.00 ft. USACE CWMS location level "Summersville.Elev.Inst.0.Top of Normal" (refreshed daily; seasonal where the Corps sets a seasonal pool). Checked 2026-10-24. Summer recreation pool is 1,652 ft; the winter pool is about 1,575 ft. Percent full: Between the top of inactive pool (1,465.5 ft) and today's top of normal pool (seasonal; 1,652 ft summer recreation pool).
Table Rock Lake
Level: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (official page). Datum: NGVD29.
Full pool: 917.00 ft. USACE CWMS location level "Table_Rock_Dam.Elev-Pool.Inst.0.Top of Conservation" (refreshed daily; seasonal where the Corps sets a seasonal pool). Checked 2026-10-24. Percent full: Conservation pool between the top of inactive pool and today's top of conservation (seasonal).

How the numbers are made

Daily value: For sources that read every 5 minutes to 6 hours (the Corps), the reading at local midnight. For daily sources, the day the source reports. Each lake's own time zone sets the day.
Today's level: The most recent reading, with the time it was observed. A reading older than 36 hours (or a daily source more than 3 days behind) is shown as the last good reading, with a notice.
Normal: The median daily level within 3 days of the date, 1991 to 2025, or from the start of a shorter record. At least 20 readings are needed.
Records: The highest and lowest daily values in our stored history, with the period covered. For Mead, Powell, Shasta, Folsom, Travis, Buchanan and Rough River the stored low is the reservoir's first filling, so their records start 3 years in. Records aren't official unless the operator publishes the same value.
Percent full: Storage over the capacity each lake's operator defines, as listed per lake above. Shown only where the storage is published or priced from the operator's own elevation-storage table.
Quality checks: A level is rejected if it is below half or above 1.5 times full pool, or more than 15 ft from the median of neighboring days that agree. Rejected and revised values are kept for audit but not shown.
Lanier ramps: Water at the end of the concrete is today's level minus the ramp's end-of-concrete elevation. The Corps counts 3.5 ft or more as usable, 3.0 to 3.5 ft as marginal and under 3.0 ft as not usable. "Closed per USACE" is the Corps' own flag, separate from depth.
Stocked waters: Each stocking line is matched to a mapped water by name and county, with a reviewed alias list where names differ. Lines that can't be placed from an official source stay unmatched rather than guessed. Pennsylvania publishes a schedule, not a report, so its dates are scheduled ones.
Stream gauges: Flow and temperature come from the USGS gauge on the same stream within 15 miles, or one within a mile on another stream; farther gauges aren't shown as the water's flow.
Water pages: A stocked water gets its own page when our record has at least 5 stocking days for it, the latest within the past 13 months, and the water has a map location.
Distances: Straight-line miles. "Near me" uses your location only on your device, after you ask.

Photo and map credits

Aerial photos (Beaver Lake, Bull Shoals Lake, Falls Lake, Folsom Lake, Fort Gibson Lake, Great Salt Lake, Keystone Lake, Lake Allatoona, Lake Berryessa, Lake Corpus Christi, Lake Hartwell, Lake Lanier, Lake Mead, Lake Okeechobee, Lake Oroville, Lake Powell, Lake Texoma, Lake Travis, Medina Lake, Oologah Lake, Rough River Lake, Shasta Lake, Table Rock Lake): Aerial photo: USGS National Map (USDA NAIP and USGS orthoimagery), public domain.
Aerial photos (Canyon Lake, Elephant Butte Lake, Lake Buchanan, Nolin River Lake): Aerial photo: USDA NAIP imagery, June 2022, via the USGS National Map, public domain.
Aerial photos (Jordan Lake): Aerial photo: USDA NAIP imagery, September 2022, via the USGS National Map, public domain.
Aerial photos (Kerr Lake): Aerial photo: USDA NAIP imagery, October 2023 and November 2023, via the USGS National Map, public domain.
Aerial photos (Summersville Lake): Aerial photo: USDA NAIP imagery, October 2022, via the USGS National Map, public domain.
Lake Lanier: Lake Lanier, July 2018. Photo: Thomson200, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Lake Lanier: Browns Bridge, October 2017. Photo: Thomson200, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Lake Lanier: An island near the south end, July 2018. Photo: Thomson200, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Lake Lanier: West Bank Park, July 2018. Photo: Thomson200, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Lake Lanier: South end shoreline, March 2017. Photo: Thomson200, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Lake Mead: Hemenway Harbor launch ramp, May 2017. Photo: Andrew Cattoir, National Park Service, public domain.
Lake Mead: Marinas at Hemenway Harbor, September 2017. Photo: Andrew Cattoir, National Park Service, public domain.
Lake Mead: Hemenway Harbor fishing pier, June 2019. Photo: Andrew Cattoir, National Park Service, public domain.
Great Salt Lake: White Rock Bay, Antelope Island, May 2018. Photo: Z3lvs, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Great Salt Lake: From Antelope Island, October 2012. Photo: Hermann Luyken, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Great Salt Lake: From Sunset Beach, 2005. Photo: Drax Felton, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Great Salt Lake: Saltair Pavilion in the 1890s. Photo: C.R. Savage, public domain.
Home page: Gunsight Butte and Navajo Mountain, Lake Powell, November 2017. Photo: Brent and Dawn Davis, National Park Service, public domain. Brook trout illustration: Duane Raver, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, public domain.
State outlines: Natural Earth, public domain.
Fonts: National Park and Atkinson Hyperlegible Next, SIL Open Font License 1.1 (license, license).