Rough River Lake is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Lake Insights displays its latest available elevation from USACE Louisville District Daily Lake Report. Published reference elevations are listed below.
Lake Status
0.4 feet above full pool
+0.40 ft vs full pool
- 7-day trend
- Rising
- 7-day change
- Up 0.07 ft
- 30-day change
- Down 6.73 ft
- Last updated
- 56 minutes ago
Rough River Lake is currently 0.4 feet above full pool and has risen slightly over the past week. The lake is above full pool and has continued to rise over the past week.
Watershed drought conditions
Breckinridge County, KY · 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
No
Current conditions are classified as Abnormally Dry (D0), which is not considered official drought.
U.S. Drought Monitor · map date Sep 8, 2026. Updated weekly. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for Breckinridge County, KY
Key Facts
Managing authority
Waterbody / project type
Official purposes
Full pool
Winter 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
- 90,200 acre-ft
- Max storage
- 334,400 acre-ft
- Surface area at normal pool
- 5,100 acres
- Drainage area
- 454 sq mi
- Spillway capacity (design)
- 22,000 cfs
- Dam structure
- Earth · 132 ft high · completed 1959
- Hazard classification
- High
- Safety & inspection
- last inspection May 2, 2023 · EAP yes
National Inventory of Dams · matched record: Rough River Dam (KY03012)
How this lake is operated
- Documented project purposes (National Inventory of Dams): Flood Risk Reduction, 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
- 490.00 ft
- Winter / seasonal pool
- 470.00 ft
- Flood stage
- 524.00 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.
Flood stage is not interchangeable with flood pool.
Current data source
Managing authority: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Observation source used by Lake Insights: USACE Louisville District Daily Lake Report
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 USACE Louisville District Daily Lake Report, 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 Rough River Lake
- Who manages Rough River Lake?
- Rough River Lake is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Lake Insights reports published gauge readings; it does not operate the waterbody.
- What is full pool at Rough River Lake?
- The published full-pool elevation for Rough River Lake is 490.00 ft (NGVD29). Full pool is a published reference elevation — not a prediction of today’s level.
- Does Rough River Lake have a published winter pool?
- Rough River Lake has a published winter / seasonal pool elevation of 470.00 ft. Lake Insights does not currently have verified seasonal operating dates for this lake.
- Where does Lake Insights get the level reading for Rough River Lake?
- Lake Insights displays the latest available elevation for Rough River Lake from USACE Louisville District Daily Lake Report. The managing authority (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) may differ from the agency that publishes the observation used on this page.
- What datum is used for Rough River Lake?
- Elevations for Rough River Lake are referenced to NGVD29 (MSL).
- What are the documented purposes of Rough River Lake?
- Documented purposes for Rough River Lake (National Inventory of Dams): Flood Risk Reduction, Recreation, Water Supply.