Clinton Lake
Clinton Lake is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — Kansas City District. Lake Insights displays its latest available elevation from USACE NWK District. Published reference elevations are listed below.
Lake Status
At full pool
- 7-day trend
- Falling
- 7-day change
- Down 0.02 ft
- 30-day change
- Down 0.02 ft
- Last updated
- 1 hour ago
Clinton 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
Douglas County, KS · surrounding county from lake location
Abnormally Dry
The surrounding county is abnormally dry, which is not official drought.
Severity
Weekly trend
Worsening
Compared with last week
Official drought
No
Current conditions are classified as Abnormally Dry (D0), which is not considered official drought.
U.S. Drought Monitor · map date Sep 8, 2026. Updated weekly. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for Douglas County, KS
Key Facts
Managing authority
Waterbody / project type
Official purposes
Full pool
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
- 110,400 acre-ft
- Max storage
- 368,700 acre-ft
- Surface area at normal pool
- 7,000 acres
- Drainage area
- 367 sq mi
- Spillway capacity (design)
- 53,000 cfs
- Dam structure
- Rockfill · 116 ft high · completed 1977
- Hazard classification
- High
- Safety & inspection
- last inspection Jan 24, 2023 · EAP yes
National Inventory of Dams · matched record: Clinton Dam (KS00026)
How this lake is operated
- Documented project purposes (National Inventory of Dams): Flood Risk Reduction, Fish and Wildlife Pond, 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
- 876.00 ft
Published reference elevation. Not necessarily a fixed year-round target for every project.
Current data source
Managing authority: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — Kansas City District
Observation source used by Lake Insights: USACE NWK District
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 USACE NWK District, 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 Clinton Lake
- Who manages Clinton Lake?
- Clinton Lake is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — Kansas City District. Lake Insights reports published gauge readings; it does not operate the waterbody.
- What is full pool at Clinton Lake?
- The published full-pool elevation for Clinton Lake is 876.00 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 Clinton Lake?
- Lake Insights displays the latest available elevation for Clinton Lake from USACE NWK District. The managing authority (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — Kansas City District) may differ from the agency that publishes the observation used on this page.
- What datum is used for Clinton Lake?
- Elevations for Clinton Lake are referenced to NGVD29 (MSL).
- What are the documented purposes of Clinton Lake?
- Documented purposes for Clinton Lake (National Inventory of Dams): Flood Risk Reduction, Fish and Wildlife Pond, Recreation, Water Supply.