Overview
Lake Tahoe is a roughly 122,000-acre alpine lake straddling the California–Nevada border in the Sierra Nevada, the largest alpine lake in North America and the second-deepest lake in the United States. A natural tectonic basin drains solely through the Truckee River at Tahoe City, where a low dam operated in coordination with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and federal water managers regulates the top several feet of storage for downstream Truckee River uses while protecting the lake's clarity and shoreline.
The lake averages about 1,000 feet deep and reaches 1,645 feet, with roughly 72 miles of shoreline framed by steep granite mountains and clear, oligotrophic water. Broad open basins, rocky points, and a few shallow shelves such as Emerald Bay create a physical setting unlike California's foothill reservoirs.
Tahoe is an international destination for boating, paddling, swimming, and fishing for lake trout, rainbow trout, kokanee, and other coldwater species managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Nevada's wildlife agency. Public beaches, marinas, and state and national forest lands encircle communities from South Lake Tahoe to Tahoe City and Incline Village.
Lake levels are managed between the natural rim near 6,223 feet and a legal maximum of 6,229.1 feet above mean sea level. When the lake falls to the rim, Truckee River outflow can cease; when it approaches the legal maximum, dam releases increase. Because even a foot of change exposes or floods extensive shoreline, monitoring current lake levels is important for docks, beaches, navigation, and fishing.
Current Conditions
Lake Tahoe is currently 1.24 feet below full pool and has fallen slightly over the past week.
- 7-day trendFallingLatest movement can differ from the seven-day trend.
- 7-day changeDown 0.16 ft
- 30-day changeDown 0.48 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 Tahoe is a 122,000-acre reservoir on the Upper Truckee River and tributary streams managed by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Lake Tahoe Dam) / Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.