Lake Oahe lake and shoreline

Lake Oahe Water Level

North DakotaSouth Dakota

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Lake Oahe

Current level

No public live gage

USGS, the Corps, and other public feeds do not publish a pool elevation for this lake. Conservation-pool and datum values from the catalog may still appear below.

Since last reading

No prior reading

Change appears once we have two daily level summaries on file.

Prior reading unavailable

7-day change

Insufficient 7-day history

7-day change is shown once at least a week of daily data is on file.

Insufficient history for 7-day trend

Not enough readings in this period

Need at least two readings in the last 7 days for a trend preview.

30-day change

Insufficient 30-day history

30-day change is shown once 30 days of daily history are available.

Not enough readings in this period

Need at least two readings in the last 30 days for a trend preview.

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Water Level History

No live elevation history

This lake has no public live pool gage, so Lake Insights cannot plot a water-level history. Published conservation or full-pool elevation may still appear in the panels below.

Reference line is designed full pool.

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Lake Oahe Level Details

Reference elevations, recent daily readings, data sources, and answers to common questions.

Conditions & Reference

Level status

Summary updating

This comparison needs the current level and full pool. We use the live feed when present, otherwise the latest daily summary when it includes a pool comparison.

DatumElevation referenced to National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929.
NGVD29
Elevation reference
MSL
Source
Not available

Reference levels

  • Full pool1,608 ft

Surrounding county drought

Moderate Drought

41.2% of surrounding county in official drought (D1–D4).

Severity

NoneExtreme
Trend
Stable

Surrounding county drought

Stanley County, SD

Moderate Drought

Moderate Drought. The largest share of Stanley County, SD is in Moderate Drought (D1), an official USDM drought category. These figures describe the surrounding county from the lake location, not the lake itself.. Trend: Stable compared with last week. Official drought (D1–D4) yes

Severity

NoneExtreme

Weekly trend

Stable

Compared with last week

Official drought (D1–D4)

Yes

41.2% of the surrounding county is in official drought categories (D1–D4). Dominant category remains Moderate Drought.

Typical county impacts (USDM guidance)

  • Streamflows in the surrounding county may run below normal
  • Soils and vegetation can dry between rain events
  • Water managers may begin to watch supply more closely

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 Stanley County, SD

Daily level summary

Daily history updating

Daily rows will appear here as level summaries are recorded for this lake.

Common questions about Lake Oahe’s water level

  • Lake Insights does not currently have a live gauge elevation for Lake Oahe. No public USGS or U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pool gage is published for this lake, so a current Lake Oahe lake level is not shown.

  • Lake Oahe does not have a public live pool-elevation feed. Lake Insights only plots a current elevation when an official agency gage (USGS, Corps, NOAA, or a verified operator feed) is available.

  • Full pool for Lake Oahe is 1,608 ft — the normal conservation target elevation when the reservoir is at its designed summer or operating pool.

Lake level glossary

Definitions for pool targets, datums, and how elevation readings are labeled.

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