Lake Pleasant is managed by Central Arizona Project / U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (New Waddell Dam); Maricopa County Parks (recreation). Lake Insights displays its latest available elevation from Central Arizona Project. Published reference elevations are listed below.
Lake Status
52.95 feet below full pool
−52.95 ft vs full pool
- 7-day trend
- Rising
- 7-day change
- Up 0.71 ft
- 30-day change
- Down 2.48 ft
- Last updated
- Sep 22 • 6:00 AM
Lake Pleasant is currently 52.95 feet below full pool and has risen slightly over the past week. Recent conditions indicate improving reservoir levels, although the lake remains below its normal operating elevation.
Watershed drought conditions
Yavapai County, AZ · surrounding county from lake location
Abnormally Dry
The surrounding county is abnormally dry, which is not official drought.
Severity
Weekly trend
Worsening
Compared with last week
Official drought
Yes
38.6% of the watershed is currently classified as official drought (D1+).
U.S. Drought Monitor · map date Sep 15, 2026. Updated weekly. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for Yavapai County, AZ
Key Facts
Waterbody / project type
Official purposes
Full pool
Flood stage
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
- 811,784 acre-ft
- Max storage
- 1.06M acre-ft
- Surface area at normal pool
- 9,957 acres
- Drainage area
- 1,438 sq mi
- Spillway capacity (design)
- 129,000 cfs
- Dam structure
- Rockfill · 440 ft high · completed 1992
- Hazard classification
- High
- Safety & inspection
- last inspection Apr 19, 2022
National Inventory of Dams · matched record: New Waddell Dam (AZ82929)
How this lake is operated
- Documented project purposes (National Inventory of Dams): Flood Risk Reduction, Hydroelectric, 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
- 1702.00 ft
- Flood stage
- 1725.00 ft
Published reference elevation. Not necessarily a fixed year-round target for every project.
Flood stage is not interchangeable with flood pool.
Current data source
Managing authority: Central Arizona Project / U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (New Waddell Dam); Maricopa County Parks (recreation)
Observation source used by Lake Insights: Central Arizona Project
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 Central Arizona Project, 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 Pleasant
- Who manages Lake Pleasant?
- Lake Pleasant is managed by Central Arizona Project / U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (New Waddell Dam); Maricopa County Parks (recreation). Lake Insights reports published gauge readings; it does not operate the waterbody.
- What is full pool at Lake Pleasant?
- The published full-pool elevation for Lake Pleasant is 1702.00 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 Pleasant?
- Lake Insights displays the latest available elevation for Lake Pleasant from Central Arizona Project. The managing authority (Central Arizona Project / U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (New Waddell Dam); Maricopa County Parks (recreation)) may differ from the agency that publishes the observation used on this page.
- What datum is used for Lake Pleasant?
- Elevations for Lake Pleasant are referenced to NGVD29 (MSL).
- What are the documented purposes of Lake Pleasant?
- Documented purposes for Lake Pleasant (National Inventory of Dams): Flood Risk Reduction, Hydroelectric, Recreation, Water Supply.