Milford Lake is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Kansas City District). Lake Insights displays its latest available elevation from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Published reference elevations are listed below.
Lake Status
1.99 feet above full pool
+1.99 ft vs full pool
- 7-day trend
- Stable
- 7-day change
- Up 0.05 ft
- 30-day change
- Down 0.34 ft
- Last updated
- 45 minutes ago
Milford Lake is currently 1.99 feet above full pool and has remained relatively stable over the past seven days. Readings have been steady over the past week while the lake remains above full pool.
Watershed drought conditions
Geary County, KS · surrounding county from lake location
Abnormally Dry
The surrounding county is abnormally dry, which is not official drought.
Severity
Weekly trend
Stable
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 15, 2026. Updated weekly. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for Geary 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
- 388,800 acre-ft
- Max storage
- 1.15M acre-ft
- Surface area at normal pool
- 15,708 acres
- Drainage area
- 24,882 sq mi
- Spillway capacity (design)
- 560,000 cfs
- Dam structure
- Rockfill · 147 ft high · completed 1966
- Hazard classification
- High
- Safety & inspection
- last inspection Jul 21, 2021 · EAP yes
National Inventory of Dams · matched record: Milford Dam (KS00008)
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
- 1144.00 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: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
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 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 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 Milford Lake
- Who manages Milford Lake?
- Milford 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 Milford Lake?
- The published full-pool elevation for Milford Lake is 1144.00 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 Milford Lake?
- Lake Insights displays the latest available elevation for Milford Lake from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). 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 Milford Lake?
- Elevations for Milford Lake are referenced to NGVD29 (MSL).
- What are the documented purposes of Milford Lake?
- Documented purposes for Milford Lake (National Inventory of Dams): Flood Risk Reduction, Fish and Wildlife Pond, Recreation, Water Supply.