Lake Powell and Lake Mead levels now

As of late September 2026, both Lake Powell and Lake Mead are at or near historic lows, with Lake Mead just setting a new all‑time record low and Lake Powell hovering just above its own record low set earlier this summer. ^[1][2][3]

Current lake levels (late September 2026)

Lake Mead (Hoover Dam, AZ/NV)

• Elevation: ~1,037.8–1,037.9 ft above sea level (MSL) as of Sept 29–30, 2026. ^[1][3]
• Status: This is below the previous record low of 1,040.58 ft (July 2022) and represents the lowest level since the reservoir began filling in the 1930s. ^[4][5][6]
• Full pool: 1,229 ft → currently about 191 ft below full pool. ^[1][3]

Lake Powell (Glen Canyon Dam, AZ/UT)

• Elevation: ~3,517.2–3,517.7 ft MSL as of Sept 27–28, 2026. ^[2][7][8]
• Status: Slightly above its all‑time low of ~3,517.0–3,517.2 ft reached in mid‑August 2026, but still at a record‑low range for the reservoir. ^[9][10][11]
• Full pool: 3,700 ft → currently about 182–183 ft below full pool, at roughly 21–22% of capacity. ^[2][8][12]
• Hydropower margin: Still about 27–28 ft above “minimum power pool” (3,490 ft), so Glen Canyon Dam can still generate power, though the buffer is narrow. ^[9][2][12]

Context: why they’re so low

• Both reservoirs are fed by the Colorado River, which has been stressed by long‑term drought, high temperatures, low snowpack, and heavy water use. ^[4][5][6]
• In 2026, snow drought and warm temperatures in the Colorado Basin further reduced inflows, pushing both lakes to multi‑decade lows. ^[9]
• Combined storage in Lake Mead and Lake Powell is at its lowest since the late 1950s, raising concerns about hydropower reliability and water allocations for millions of people in the Southwest. ^[4][5][6]

If you’d like, I can pull the very latest hourly gauge readings from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation dashboards or show a simple table of how these levels compare to key thresholds (dead pool, minimum power pool, full pool).

⁂

• https://mead.uslakes.info/Level/   
• https://lakepowell.water-data.com/    
• https://lakeinsights.com/lakes/mead/water-levels   
• https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-08-08/lake-mead-reports-lowest-water-level-ever-recorded   
• https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/09/lake-mead-record-low-water-level-colorado-river   
• https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/07/climate/lake-mead-record-low-water-level-colorado-river   
• https://powell.uslakes.info/Level/ 
• https://lakeinsights.com/lakes/powell/water-levels  
• https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/lake-powell-drops-to-record-low-levels/   
• https://earthsky.org/earth/lake-powell-is-shrinking-dead-pool-2026/ 
• https://lakepowell.water-data.com/?bcsi-ac-4d57fec82d0c41f9=271918E500000005je/xzXnYTggfJmMql9lCqb7rzUXaAAAABQAAABnyywCAcAAAAAAAAAyIAQA= 
• https://www.lakepowellwaterlevel.com/  
• https://eros.usgs.gov/earthshots/lake-mead 
• https://www.newsweek.com/lake-mead-water-projected-hit-lowest-point-record-2087164 
• https://time.com/article/2026/08/10/lake-mead-low-water-level/