Lake Powell has swung through a 188-foot range in its lifetime, from an all-time high in 1983 to a modern record low in 2023. 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’s modern record low is 3,519.92 feet, set on April 13, 2023 — the lowest the reservoir has been since it finished filling in 1980. The callout above shows where the lake sits today against that mark. What changed in 2026 is the forecast: federal projections now show Lake Powell likely falling below the 2023 record to a new record low late this year.
Lake Powell’s elevation records at a glance
Every figure below is a fixed, dated reading or an engineered threshold. 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 | Modern record low | April 13, 2023 |
| ~3,510.85 ft | Projected end of water year 2026 | USBR May 2026 24-Month Study (most-probable) |
| 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 record low: 3,519.92 feet
The lowest Lake Powell has been since it finished filling is 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 50 feet through that summer. Every winter since has moved the level up or down with the snowpack. 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.
Could 2026 set a new record low?
Probably. The latest federal modeling points that way, though forecasts are scenarios that shift with the weather. The NOAA Colorado Basin River Forecast Center pegged water year 2026 unregulated inflow to Powell at about 3.27 million acre-feet, roughly 34% of average (USBR, May 2026). Run that through the 24-Month Study and Reclamation’s most-probable case projects the lake ending the water year near 3,510.85 feet — about 9 feet below the 2023 record. Even the wetter end of that May forecast finishes below the old low.
The drier scenarios go further. Reclamation’s probable-minimum run puts Powell near 3,499 feet by the end of December 2026, and its June 24-Month Study projects the lake reaching minimum power pool at 3,490 feet in spring 2027 — a line it has never crossed since the reservoir filled. Managers are fighting it. Glen Canyon’s annual release was cut to 6.0 million acre-feet, the lowest the current rules allow, and between 660,000 and 1 million acre-feet is being sent down from Flaming Gorge Reservoir upstream 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, May and June 24-Month Study projections, 6.0 MAF release tier)
- 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)