Overview
Lake Sinclair is a roughly 15,300-acre reservoir on the Oconee River in Baldwin, Hancock, and Putnam counties in central Georgia, near Milledgeville. It was created in 1953 when Georgia Power completed Sinclair Dam, and it also serves as the lower reservoir for the pump-back hydroelectric operation at Wallace Dam upstream. The lake is operated for hydroelectric power and cooling water for a nearby power plant.
Sinclair has about 417 miles of winding shoreline and stretches up the Oconee River and its tributary creeks, giving it a highly convoluted shape full of coves and fingers. Its warm, fertile water, boat docks, and mix of residential and wooded shoreline make it a heavily used central-Georgia recreation lake, and a portion of the lake stays warm year-round from power-plant discharge.
The lake is popular for largemouth bass, crappie, hybrid and striped bass, and catfish, with fisheries managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Georgia Power recreation areas, boat ramps, and marinas provide public access around the reservoir.
Water levels on Lake Sinclair are managed by Georgia Power around a normal full pool of 340 feet on the project's plant datum. Because Sinclair receives peaking releases and pump-back flows from Lake Oconee and Wallace Dam, the pool can fluctuate daily as well as seasonally, so monitoring current lake levels is helpful for boating, fishing, and dock access throughout the year.
Current Conditions
Lake Sinclair is currently 0.47 feet below full pool and has risen slightly over the past week.
- 7-day trendRisingLatest movement can differ from the seven-day trend.
- 7-day changeUp 0.04 ft
- 30-day changeUp 0.24 ft
- Drought conditionsAbnormally Dry
About This Lake
Learn how this lake is managed, what affects its water level, and where Lake Insights gets its data.
Lake Sinclair is a 15,330-acre reservoir on the Oconee River (releases from Lake Oconee / Wallace Dam) managed by Georgia Power.