Beltzville Lake is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Lake Insights displays its latest available elevation from U.S. Geological Survey. Published reference elevations are listed below.
Lake Status
At full pool
- 7-day trend
- Falling
- 7-day change
- Down 0.24 ft
- 30-day change
- Down 0.19 ft
- Last updated
- 4 hours ago
Beltzville Lake is currently near full pool and has fallen slightly over the past week. Levels have eased slightly over the past week while staying near full pool.
Watershed drought conditions
Carbon County, PA · surrounding county from lake location
No Drought
No official drought conditions.
Severity
Weekly trend
Stable
Compared with last week
Official drought
No
No official drought is reported for the surrounding watershed.
U.S. Drought Monitor · map date Sep 22, 2026. Updated weekly. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for Carbon County, PA
Key Facts
Managing authority
Waterbody / project type
Official purposes
Full pool
Flood stage
Datum
Current-level source
Project / NID identifier
Dam / watershed (NID design values)
Static design values from a confidently matched National Inventory of Dams record — not live gage readings.
- Normal storage
- 41,220 acre-ft
- Max storage
- 103,625 acre-ft
- Surface area at normal pool
- 947 acres
- Drainage area
- 96 sq mi
- Spillway capacity (design)
- 47,000 cfs
- Dam structure
- Rockfill · 177 ft high · completed 1969
- Hazard classification
- High
- Safety & inspection
- last inspection Sep 7, 2023 · EAP yes
National Inventory of Dams · matched record: Beltzville Dam (PA00010)
How this lake is operated
- Documented project purposes (National Inventory of Dams): Flood Risk Reduction, Recreation, Water Supply.
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
- 628.00 ft
- Flood stage
- 651.00 ft
Published reference elevation. Not necessarily a fixed year-round target for every project.
Flood stage is not interchangeable with flood pool.
Current data source
Managing authority: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Observation source used by Lake Insights: U.S. Geological Survey
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 U.S. Geological Survey, 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.
Common questions about Beltzville Lake
- Who manages Beltzville Lake?
- Beltzville Lake is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Lake Insights reports published gauge readings; it does not operate the waterbody.
- What is full pool at Beltzville Lake?
- The published full-pool elevation for Beltzville Lake is 628.00 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 Beltzville Lake?
- Lake Insights displays the latest available elevation for Beltzville Lake from U.S. Geological Survey. The managing authority (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) may differ from the agency that publishes the observation used on this page.
- What datum is used for Beltzville Lake?
- Elevations for Beltzville Lake are referenced to NGVD29 (MSL).
- What are the documented purposes of Beltzville Lake?
- Documented purposes for Beltzville Lake (National Inventory of Dams): Flood Risk Reduction, Recreation, Water Supply.