Great Falls Lake is managed by Duke Energy. Lake Insights displays its latest available elevation from NOAA / National Weather Service — Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service. Published reference elevations are listed below.
Lake Status
4.89 feet below full pool
−4.89 ft vs full pool
- 7-day trend
- Falling
- 7-day change
- Down 0.62 ft
- 30-day change
- Down 0.53 ft
- Last updated
- 2 hours ago
Great Falls Lake is currently 4.89 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
Chester County, SC · surrounding county from lake location
Moderate Drought
Moderate drought is affecting the watershed.
Severity
Weekly trend
Worsening
Compared with last week
Official drought
Yes
76.7% 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 Chester County, SC
Key Facts
Managing authority
Waterbody / project type
Official purposes
Full pool
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
- 2,043 acre-ft
- Surface area at normal pool
- 450 acres
- Drainage area
- 4,140 sq mi
- Dam structure
- Gravity · 113 ft high · completed 1923
- Hazard classification
- High
- Safety & inspection
- Satisfactory · last inspection Aug 11, 2026
National Inventory of Dams · matched record: Great Falls-Dearborn Dam (SC00140)
How this lake is operated
- Documented project purposes (National Inventory of Dams): Hydroelectric.
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
- 101.00 ft
Published reference elevation. Not necessarily a fixed year-round target for every project.
Current data source
Managing authority: Duke Energy
Observation source used by Lake Insights: NOAA / National Weather Service — Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service
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 NOAA / National Weather Service — Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, 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 Great Falls Lake
- Who manages Great Falls Lake?
- Great Falls Lake is managed by Duke Energy. Lake Insights reports published gauge readings; it does not operate the waterbody.
- What is full pool at Great Falls Lake?
- The published full-pool elevation for Great Falls Lake is 101.00 ft. Full pool is a published reference elevation — not a prediction of today’s level.
- Where does Lake Insights get the level reading for Great Falls Lake?
- Lake Insights displays the latest available elevation for Great Falls Lake from NOAA / National Weather Service — Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service. The managing authority (Duke Energy) may differ from the agency that publishes the observation used on this page.
- What are the documented purposes of Great Falls Lake?
- Documented purposes for Great Falls Lake (National Inventory of Dams): Hydroelectric.