Pleasant Hill Lake is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District. Lake Insights displays its latest available elevation from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Published reference elevations are listed below.
Lake Status
1.14 feet above full pool
+1.14 ft vs full pool
- 7-day trend
- Rising
- 7-day change
- Up 0.86 ft
- 30-day change
- Up 0.80 ft
- Last updated
- Sep 21 • 11:00 PM
Pleasant Hill Lake is currently 1.14 feet above full pool and has been rising over the past week. The lake is above full pool and has continued to rise over the past week.
Watershed drought conditions
Ashland County, OH · surrounding county from lake location
No Drought
No official drought conditions.
Severity
Weekly trend
Stable
Compared with last week
Official drought
No
No official drought is reported for the surrounding watershed.
U.S. Drought Monitor · map date Sep 22, 2026. Updated weekly. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for Ashland County, OH
Key Facts
Managing authority
Waterbody / project type
Official purposes
Full pool
Winter 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
- 73 acre-ft
- Max storage
- 140 acre-ft
- Surface area at normal pool
- 11 acres
- Drainage area
- 3.7 sq mi
- Spillway capacity (design)
- 1,005 cfs
- Dam structure
- Earth · 20 ft high · completed 1925
- Hazard classification
- High
- Safety & inspection
- Poor · last inspection Sep 22, 2021
National Inventory of Dams · matched record: Pleasant Valley Lake Dam (OH00336)
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
- 1020.00 ft
- Winter / seasonal pool
- 1014.00 ft
Published reference elevation. Not necessarily a fixed year-round target for every project.
A winter / seasonal pool elevation is published, but Lake Insights does not have verified seasonal operating dates for this lake.
Current data source
Managing authority: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District
Observation source used by Lake Insights: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
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. Army Corps of Engineers, 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 Pleasant Hill Lake
- Who manages Pleasant Hill Lake?
- Pleasant Hill Lake is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District. Lake Insights reports published gauge readings; it does not operate the waterbody.
- What is full pool at Pleasant Hill Lake?
- The published full-pool elevation for Pleasant Hill Lake is 1020.00 ft (NGVD29). Full pool is a published reference elevation — not a prediction of today’s level.
- Does Pleasant Hill Lake have a published winter pool?
- Pleasant Hill Lake has a published winter / seasonal pool elevation of 1014.00 ft. Lake Insights does not currently have verified seasonal operating dates for this lake.
- Where does Lake Insights get the level reading for Pleasant Hill Lake?
- Lake Insights displays the latest available elevation for Pleasant Hill Lake from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The managing authority (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District) may differ from the agency that publishes the observation used on this page.
- What datum is used for Pleasant Hill Lake?
- Elevations for Pleasant Hill Lake are referenced to NGVD29 (MSL).
- What are the documented purposes of Pleasant Hill Lake?
- Documented purposes for Pleasant Hill Lake (National Inventory of Dams): Recreation.