Pactola Reservoir lake and shoreline

Pactola Reservoir Water Level

South Dakota

Make Home Lake
Favorite

Pactola Reservoir is currently at a water-surface elevation of 4558.4 feet.

4558.39 ft · Updated 2 hours ago · USACE NWO District

Current level

4,558.39ft

Status unavailable

A verified operating range is not available for this lake.

Since last reading

Down 0.08 ft

Previous readingSep 94,558.54 ft

7-day change

Down 0.25 ft

7-day trend: Falling

4 daily readings in the last 7 days

30-day change

Down 0.25 ft

4 daily readings in the last 30 days

Share feedback or correction

Water Level History

Elevation (ft) Water-surface elevation (ft)

4558 ft4559 ft4559 ftSep 8Sep 11

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.

DatumVertical reference for published pool and stage elevations at this lake (from the lake catalog).
Water-surface elevation (ft)
Elevation reference
Not available
Source
USACE NWO District

Reference levels

No published reference elevations for this lake.

Watershed drought

Severe Drought

98.9% of watershed in official drought (D1+).

Severity

NoneExtreme
Trend
Stable

Watershed drought conditions

Pennington County, SD

Severe Drought

Severe Drought. Severe drought conditions are present.. Trend: Stable compared with last week. Official drought yes

Severity

NoneExtreme

Weekly trend

Stable

Compared with last week

Official drought

Yes

98.9% of the watershed is currently classified as official drought (D1+).

Expected impacts

  • Lower stream inflows
  • Lake levels may decline faster
  • Vegetation is becoming drier
  • Minor increase in wildfire risk

U.S. Drought Monitor · map date Sep 8, 2026. Updated weekly. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for Pennington County, SD

Daily level summary

  • Sep 10, 2026

    4,558.46 ft

    -0.08 ft

  • Sep 9, 2026

    4,558.54 ft

    -0.09 ft

  • Sep 8, 2026

    4,558.63 ft

    -0.08 ft

  • Sep 7, 2026

    4,558.71 ft

    —

Common questions about Pactola Reservoir’s water level

  • The current water level at Pactola Reservoir is 4,558.39 ft (updated 2 hours ago). You can track the Pactola Reservoir lake level on the interactive chart and daily history above.

  • The current 7-day trend for the Pactola Reservoir lake level is falling — falling about 0.25 ft over the past week. See the history chart above for the full picture.

  • Readings refresh when USACE NWO District publishes new gauge data — typically daily for most reservoirs. The timestamp above the chart shows when the latest observation arrived on Lake Insights.

Lake level glossary

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

Privacy preferences

Ads and analytics are not optional. You can still choose optional functional cookies. Essential cookies stay on so the site works.

  • Essential

    Required for sign-in, security, and core site features. These cannot be turned off because the service would not work without them.

  • Functional & preferences

    Remembers optional choices such as display preferences beyond what essential cookies require. Most preference storage today is essential for signed-in features.