Roosevelt Lake is managed by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation / Salt River Project. Lake Insights displays its latest available elevation from Salt River Project. Published reference elevations are listed below.
Lake Status
64.74 feet below full pool
−64.74 ft vs full pool
- 7-day trend
- Rising
- 7-day change
- Up 0.52 ft
- 30-day change
- Down 1.58 ft
- Last updated
- Just now
Roosevelt Lake is currently 64.74 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
Gila County, AZ · surrounding county from lake location
Moderate Drought
Moderate drought is affecting the watershed.
Severity
Weekly trend
Stable
Compared with last week
Official drought
Yes
89.4% of the watershed is currently classified as official drought (D1+).
Expected impacts
- Stream inflows may run below normal
- Lake levels can decline faster between rain events
- Vegetation stress may increase over time
U.S. Drought Monitor · map date Sep 15, 2026. Updated weekly. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for Gila County, AZ
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
- 1.65M acre-ft
- Max storage
- 3.41M acre-ft
- Surface area at normal pool
- 31,852 acres
- Drainage area
- 5,802 sq mi
- Spillway capacity (design)
- 75,000 cfs
- Dam structure
- Masonry · 357 ft high · completed 1911
- Hazard classification
- High
- Safety & inspection
- last inspection Dec 10, 2020
National Inventory of Dams · matched record: Theodore Roosevelt Dam (AZ10317)
How this lake is operated
- Documented project purposes (National Inventory of Dams): Hydroelectric, Irrigation, 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
- 2151.00 ft
Published reference elevation. Not necessarily a fixed year-round target for every project.
Current data source
Managing authority: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation / Salt River Project
Observation source used by Lake Insights: Salt River 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 Salt River 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 Roosevelt Lake
- Who manages Roosevelt Lake?
- Roosevelt Lake is managed by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation / Salt River Project. Lake Insights reports published gauge readings; it does not operate the waterbody.
- What is full pool at Roosevelt Lake?
- The published full-pool elevation for Roosevelt Lake is 2151.00 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 Roosevelt Lake?
- Lake Insights displays the latest available elevation for Roosevelt Lake from Salt River Project. The managing authority (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation / Salt River Project) may differ from the agency that publishes the observation used on this page.
- What datum is used for Roosevelt Lake?
- Elevations for Roosevelt Lake are referenced to NGVD29 (MSL).
- What are the documented purposes of Roosevelt Lake?
- Documented purposes for Roosevelt Lake (National Inventory of Dams): Hydroelectric, Irrigation, Recreation.