1,037.81 ft
FallingClear · 8.1 mph S
Good
Best window: 6:40 PM–7:40 PM
Level 3 hours ago · Weather 31 minutes ago · Emporia, Emporia Municipal Airport
Melvern 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.
1.81 feet above full pool
+1.81 ft vs full pool
Melvern Lake is currently 1.81 feet above full pool and has fallen slightly over the past week. The lake remains above full pool while easing lower over the past week; 30-day change up 0.46 ft.
Osage County, KS · U.S. Drought Monitor county statistics at the lake location (not a lake-specific designation)
No Drought
No USDM drought categories are reported for Osage County, KS. These figures describe the surrounding county from the lake location, not the lake itself.
Severity
Weekly trend
Stable
Compared with last week
Official drought (D1–D4)
No
No D1–D4 area is reported for the surrounding county.
U.S. Drought Monitor · map date Oct 20, 2026. Updated weekly. Official drought means U.S. Drought Monitor categories D1–D4 (Moderate through Exceptional). Abnormally Dry (D0) is not counted as official drought. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for Osage County, KS
Managing authority
Waterbody / project type
Official purposes
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.
Published reference elevation. Not necessarily a fixed year-round target for every project.
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.
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.
Full pool
Datum
Current-level source
Project / NID identifier
Dam / watershed (NID inventory record)
Dated National Inventory of Dams fields from a confidently matched record — design values and inventory dates, not live gage readings and not a current inspection or safety determination. An older or missing inspection date does not mean the dam is currently unsafe.
Last inspection date: Nov 7, 2024
Emergency Action Plan: Yes
Inventory record values only. Dates shown are what NID published for this dam entry — not a Lake Insights inspection or an up-to-date safety rating.
National Inventory of Dams · matched record: Melvern Dam (KS00007) · last inspection date on record Nov 7, 2024
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.