Lake Arrowhead lake and shoreline

About Lake Arrowhead

Officially Lake Arrowhead (Little Wichita River)

Texas

Lake Arrowhead is managed by City of Wichita Falls. Lake Insights displays its latest available elevation from Texas Water Development Board. Published reference elevations are listed below.

Lake Status

5.22 feet below full pool

−5.22 ft vs full pool

7-day trend
Falling
7-day change
Down 0.22 ft
30-day change
Down 0.81 ft
Last updated
Sep 22 • 12:00 PM

Lake Arrowhead is currently 5.22 feet below full pool and has fallen slightly over the past week. Readings show continued drawdown relative to full pool, with levels trending lower over the past week.

Watershed drought conditions

Clay County, TX · surrounding county from lake location

Extreme Drought

Extreme drought conditions are present.

Severity

NoneExtreme

Weekly trend

Worsening

Compared with last week

Official drought

Yes

100% of the watershed is currently classified as official drought (D1+).

Expected impacts

  • Significantly reduced stream inflows
  • Lake levels may fall quickly without heavy rain
  • Dry vegetation and elevated wildfire risk
  • Water use restrictions may apply nearby

U.S. Drought Monitor · map date Sep 15, 2026. Updated weekly. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for Clay County, TX

Key Facts

Managing authority

Waterbody / project type

Reservoir

Full pool

926.00 ft

Datum

NGVD29 · MSL

Current-level source

Texas Water Development Board

Why the level can change

General factors for reservoirs like this

These are common influences for this type of lake. They do not identify the cause of a specific current change unless an operator update confirms it.

  • Rainfall & inflows

    Rain and upstream river inflows can raise reservoir levels, especially after storms.

  • Downstream releases

    When an operator releases water through a dam, reservoir storage can fall and downstream flows can rise.

  • Flood-risk operations

    Some projects store or release water under flood-risk rules when conditions require it.

  • Water supply

    Some reservoirs support municipal, industrial, irrigation, or regional water-supply needs.

  • Hydropower

    Hydropower projects may pass water through turbines when generating electricity.

  • Seasonal weather

    Dry periods, heat, evaporation, and seasonal rainfall patterns can affect storage over weeks and months.

Published reference elevations

Full pool
926.00 ft

Published reference elevation. Not necessarily a fixed year-round target for every project.

Current data source

Managing authority: City of Wichita Falls

Observation source used by Lake Insights: Texas Water Development Board

Who manages the lake and who publishes the reading Lake Insights displays can differ. Lake Insights does not invent a source label from the managing authority alone.

General education

Shared background — not lake-specific facts

Lake Insights aggregates water level information from authoritative public sources such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA, TVA, Bureau of Reclamation, power utilities, and other official lake operators. We preserve historical observations, calculate trends, and present lake conditions in a consistent format. For Texas Water Development Board, we link to the official source whenever it is available. Lake Insights does not predict future lake levels unless an official forecast has been published by the managing authority.

How we source lake data · Glossary

Common questions about Lake Arrowhead

Who manages Lake Arrowhead?
Lake Arrowhead is managed by City of Wichita Falls. Lake Insights reports published gauge readings; it does not operate the waterbody.
What is full pool at Lake Arrowhead?
The published full-pool elevation for Lake Arrowhead is 926.00 ft (NGVD29). Full pool is a published reference elevation — not a prediction of today’s level.
Where does Lake Insights get the level reading for Lake Arrowhead?
Lake Insights displays the latest available elevation for Lake Arrowhead from Texas Water Development Board. The managing authority (City of Wichita Falls) may differ from the agency that publishes the observation used on this page.
What datum is used for Lake Arrowhead?
Elevations for Lake Arrowhead are referenced to NGVD29 (MSL).

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