Center Hill Lake is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Lake Insights displays its latest available elevation from Tennessee Valley Authority. Published reference elevations are listed below.
Lake Status
15.32 feet below full pool
−15.32 ft vs full pool
- 7-day trend
- Falling
- 7-day change
- Down 0.67 ft
- 30-day change
- Down 3.83 ft
- Last updated
- 6 hours ago
Center Hill Lake is currently 15.32 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
DeKalb County, TN · surrounding county from lake location
Moderate Drought
Moderate drought is affecting the watershed.
Severity
Weekly trend
Worsening
Compared with last week
Official drought
Yes
96.5% of the watershed is currently classified as official drought (D1+).
Expected impacts
- Stream inflows may run below normal
- Lake levels can decline faster between rain events
- Vegetation stress may increase over time
U.S. Drought Monitor · map date Sep 22, 2026. Updated weekly. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for DeKalb County, TN
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
- 560 acre-ft
- Max storage
- 1,437 acre-ft
- Surface area at normal pool
- 58 acres
- Drainage area
- 61.3 sq mi
- Dam structure
- Concrete · 40 ft high · completed 1966
- Hazard classification
- High
- Safety & inspection
- Satisfactory · last inspection Aug 13, 2024
National Inventory of Dams · matched record: Taft Youth Center Dam (TN03541)
How this lake is operated
- Documented project purposes (National Inventory of Dams): 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
- 648.00 ft
- Flood stage
- 685.00 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: Tennessee Valley Authority
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 Tennessee Valley Authority, 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 Center Hill Lake
- Who manages Center Hill Lake?
- Center Hill 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 Center Hill Lake?
- The published full-pool elevation for Center Hill Lake is 648.00 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 Center Hill Lake?
- Lake Insights displays the latest available elevation for Center Hill Lake from Tennessee Valley Authority. 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 Center Hill Lake?
- Elevations for Center Hill Lake are referenced to NGVD29 (MSL).
- What are the documented purposes of Center Hill Lake?
- Documented purposes for Center Hill Lake (National Inventory of Dams): Water Supply.