Lake Meredith is managed by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation / Canadian River Municipal Water Authority. Lake Insights displays its latest available elevation from Texas Water Development Board. Published reference elevations are listed below.
Lake Status
47.87 feet below full pool
−47.87 ft vs full pool
- 7-day trend
- Falling
- 7-day change
- Down 0.15 ft
- 30-day change
- Down 0.83 ft
- Last updated
- 11 hours ago
Lake Meredith is currently 47.87 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
Hutchinson County, TX · surrounding county from lake location
Exceptional Drought
Exceptional drought conditions are present.
Severity
Weekly trend
Stable
Compared with last week
Official drought
Yes
100% of the watershed is currently classified as official drought (D1+).
Expected impacts
- Significantly reduced stream inflows
- Lake levels may fall quickly without heavy rain
- Dry vegetation and elevated wildfire risk
- Water use restrictions may apply nearby
U.S. Drought Monitor · map date Sep 8, 2026. Updated weekly. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for Hutchinson County, TX
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
- 945,400 acre-ft
- Max storage
- 2.39M acre-ft
- Surface area at normal pool
- 16,513 acres
- Drainage area
- 7,895 sq mi
- Spillway capacity (design)
- 19,300 cfs
- Dam structure
- Earth · 228 ft high · completed 1965
- Hazard classification
- High
- Safety & inspection
- last inspection Mar 3, 2022
National Inventory of Dams · matched record: Sanford Dam (TX00023)
How this lake is operated
- Documented project purposes (National Inventory of Dams): Recreation.
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
- 2937.00 ft
Published reference elevation. Not necessarily a fixed year-round target for every project.
Current data source
Managing authority: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation / Canadian River Municipal Water Authority
Observation source used by Lake Insights: Texas Water Development Board
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 Texas Water Development Board, 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 Lake Meredith
- Who manages Lake Meredith?
- Lake Meredith is managed by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation / Canadian River Municipal Water Authority. Lake Insights reports published gauge readings; it does not operate the waterbody.
- What is full pool at Lake Meredith?
- The published full-pool elevation for Lake Meredith is 2937.00 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 Lake Meredith?
- Lake Insights displays the latest available elevation for Lake Meredith from Texas Water Development Board. The managing authority (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation / Canadian River Municipal Water Authority) may differ from the agency that publishes the observation used on this page.
- What datum is used for Lake Meredith?
- Elevations for Lake Meredith are referenced to NGVD29 (MSL).
- What are the documented purposes of Lake Meredith?
- Documented purposes for Lake Meredith (National Inventory of Dams): Recreation.