El Dorado Lake
El Dorado Lake is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — Tulsa District. Lake Insights displays its latest available elevation from USACE SWT District. Published reference elevations are listed below.
Lake Status
1 foot below full pool
−1.00 ft vs full pool
- 7-day trend
- Stable
- 7-day change
- Up 0.02 ft
- 30-day change
- Up 0.02 ft
- Last updated
- 2 hours ago
El Dorado Lake is currently 1 foot below full pool and has remained relatively stable over the past seven days. El Dorado Lake remains below full pool but has been relatively stable during the past month.
Watershed drought conditions
Butler County, KS · surrounding county from lake location
Moderate Drought
Moderate drought is affecting the watershed.
Severity
Weekly trend
Worsening
Compared with last week
Official drought
Yes
98.6% 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 8, 2026. Updated weekly. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for Butler County, KS
Key Facts
Managing authority
Waterbody / project type
Full pool
Datum
Current-level source
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
- 1339.00 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 — Tulsa District
Observation source used by Lake Insights: USACE SWT 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 SWT 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 El Dorado Lake
- Who manages El Dorado Lake?
- El Dorado Lake is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — Tulsa District. Lake Insights reports published gauge readings; it does not operate the waterbody.
- What is full pool at El Dorado Lake?
- The published full-pool elevation for El Dorado Lake is 1339.00 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 El Dorado Lake?
- Lake Insights displays the latest available elevation for El Dorado Lake from USACE SWT District. The managing authority (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — Tulsa District) may differ from the agency that publishes the observation used on this page.
- What datum is used for El Dorado Lake?
- Elevations for El Dorado Lake are referenced to NGVD29 (MSL).