Lake Powell has swung through a 188-foot range in its lifetime, from an all-time high in 1983 to a modern record low that was reset in August 2026. The question people ask most is simpler than that history: how low is the lake right now, and how does that compare to the worst it has ever been?
The short answer
Lake Powell reset its modern record low in August 2026. The reservoir bottomed at 3,519.92 feet on April 13, 2023, the lowest it had been since it finished filling in 1980, and that mark stood until August 15, 2026, when the daily USBR reading slipped below it. The callout above shows today’s reading, which is where the running record now lives, and the water level chart holds the daily series.
Lake Powell’s elevation records at a glance
The figures below are fixed, dated readings and engineered thresholds, plus one USBR projection. The live number is in the callout above.
| Elevation | What it marks | When |
|---|---|---|
| 3,708.34 ft | All-time record high | July 14, 1983 |
| 3,700 ft | Full pool (design maximum) | First reached June 22, 1980 |
| 3,698.5 ft | Last near-full level (99%) | June 25, 1987 |
| 3,519.92 ft | 2023 low; modern record until Aug 15, 2026 | April 13, 2023 |
| Live (callout above) | Current modern record low | Set after August 15, 2026 |
| Below 3,510 ft | Projected during water year 2027 | USBR August 2026 24-Month Study |
| 3,490 ft | Minimum power pool (hydropower stops) | Projected spring 2027 in dry scenarios |
| 3,370 ft | Dead pool (no gravity release) | Never reached |
The 2023 low, and the record that replaced it
For three years the answer was 3,519.92 feet, recorded on April 13, 2023 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. That was roughly 180 feet below full pool and, more to the point, only about 30 feet above minimum power pool — the 3,490-foot line where Glen Canyon Dam’s turbines can no longer spin.
What pulled the lake off that low was snow. The 2023 Upper Colorado snowpack came in well above average, and the spring melt raised Powell about 65 feet through that summer. The lake has since given all of that back. On August 15, 2026 the daily USBR reading dropped to 3,519.91 feet, a hundredth of a foot under the 2023 mark.
For the full 365-day series and the exact record marks, the water level chart holds the daily readings.
The record high: 3,708.34 feet
On the other end, Lake Powell’s all-time high was 3,708.34 feet on July 14, 1983 — about 8 feet over the 3,700-foot full-pool line, when a huge snowpack forced Glen Canyon Dam to run its spillways hard. That 1983 peak and the 2023 low bracket a 188-foot swing in surface elevation across four decades.
The reservoir hasn’t been near full pool since the 1980s. It first filled to 3,700 feet on June 22, 1980, and last came within a couple feet of that line on June 25, 1987, at 3,698.5 feet, about 99% full (Reclamation). Later wet years like 1998–1999 and 2011 raised the lake, but never close to the brim.
The 2026 record, and what the forecasts say next
The new low arrived on August 15, 2026, and the spring forecasts had called it. The NOAA Colorado Basin River Forecast Center pegged water year 2026 unregulated inflow to Powell at about 3.27 million acre-feet in May, and Reclamation’s August 2026 24-Month Study put the preliminary April–July inflow at 1.14 million acre-feet, 18% of average, with the full water year tracking near 3.58 million acre-feet, or 37% of average (USBR). With that little water coming in, the lake slid past the 2023 mark in mid-August.
The forecasts now point lower still. The August 2026 study projects Powell below 3,510 feet during water year 2027, and drier scenarios approach minimum power pool at 3,490 feet — a line it has never crossed since the reservoir filled. Managers are fighting it. Glen Canyon’s water year 2026 release was cut to 6.0 million acre-feet, the new 2027–2028 Operating Guidelines set an expected 6.0 to 7.0 million acre-feet for water year 2027, and between 660,000 and 1 million acre-feet is being sent down from Flaming Gorge Reservoir through April 2027 to prop the lake up.
Every one of these is a scenario pulled from an ensemble that assumes dry conditions hold. A strong winter would rewrite them, the way the 2023 snowpack did. For the ranges Reclamation actually publishes, see the forecast page and Will Lake Powell fill back up?.
How to read the full record
Two live datasets on this site track the record as it moves. The water level chart plots the last 365 days of official USBR readings against the record high, the record low, and the power-pool and dead-pool lines. Its per-day archive drills into any date in that window with its own elevation, storage, and day-over-day change. The callout at the top of this page always shows the current reading, re-baked from Reclamation data every day.
For why the lake got this low in the first place, see Why is Lake Powell so low? and whether Lake Powell is drying up. For how much room is left below the record, what dead pool means walks the thresholds under the current level.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — Glen Canyon Dam / Lake Powell operations (record low, water year 2026 inflow, 6.0 MAF release)
- U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — August 2026 24-Month Study (PDF) (April–July 2026 inflow 18% of average; water year 2026 inflow 3.58 MAF; Powell below 3,510 ft during water year 2027; expected 6.0–7.0 MAF release)
- U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — Glen Canyon Unit overview (first fill to 3,700 ft on June 22, 1980; storage capacity)
- U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — Flaming Gorge drought-response operations (upstream releases to Lake Powell through April 2027)
- U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — Drought Response Operations Agreement (3,525 ft target elevation, release triggers)
- NOAA Colorado Basin River Forecast Center — Colorado River inflow forecasts (water year 2026 unregulated inflow)
