Lake Buchanan water level today
On Oct 28, 2026, Lake Buchanan is at 1,018.33 ft, 95.7% full (1.67 ft below full pool). That is 19.5 points above normal for this date.
Source: Texas Water Development Board · storage 829,495 of 866,694 acre-ft · provisional data
Lake Buchanan percent full history
Percent full Normal range (10th–90th percentile, 1996–2025) Average
Lake Buchanan from space
The same area near the lowest and the highest level since 2016, on clear days. Compare the shoreline and the coves.
Imagery: NASA GIBS, Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS). Landsat 8/9 courtesy of NASA/USGS; contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024. Black specks are cloud and shadow masks.
Records and key dates
- Record high
- 100.0%Jul 27, 1938
- Record low
- 12.8%Sep 30, 1937
- 12-month high
- 99.9%Jun 27, 2026
- 12-month low
- 93.3%Jan 28, 2026
- Last time full
- Jul 31, 2025
- Change in 1 year
- +0.08 ft+0.2 pts
About Lake Buchanan
- River basin
- Colorado
- Full pool (top of conservation pool)
- 1,020.00 ft
- Conservation capacity
- 866,694 acre-ft
- Surface area today
- 22,115 acres
- Dead pool elevation
- 937.00 ft
- Flood control reservoir
- No
- Water supply for
- Austin
- Data since
- Jun 30, 1937
Monthly average, last 10 years
Average percent full each month.
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 94% | 94% | 94% | 95% | 98% | 100% | 99% | 99% | 96% | 96% | — | — |
| 2025 | 60% | 59% | 57% | 54% | 52% | 59% | 89% | 99% | 97% | 95% | 96% | 97% |
| 2024 | 45% | 45% | 46% | 47% | 65% | 77% | 74% | 72% | 68% | 68% | 63% | 63% |
| 2023 | 60% | 59% | 58% | 57% | 61% | 62% | 58% | 51% | 46% | 45% | 45% | 45% |
| 2022 | 88% | 88% | 88% | 87% | 90% | 80% | 72% | 66% | 66% | 64% | 59% | 61% |
| 2021 | 83% | 83% | 83% | 81% | 87% | 96% | 97% | 96% | 94% | 93% | 88% | 88% |
| 2020 | 91% | 91% | 91% | 95% | 99% | 99% | 98% | 94% | 93% | 91% | 85% | 84% |
| 2019 | 95% | 95% | 94% | 95% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 98% | 97% | 95% | 90% | 90% |
| 2018 | 89% | 89% | 90% | 90% | 94% | 92% | 88% | 82% | 81% | 93% | 95% | 95% |
| 2017 | 95% | 94% | 95% | 95% | 99% | 99% | 98% | 97% | 96% | 95% | 89% | 89% |
Frequently asked questions
Is Lake Buchanan full?
Not quite. On Oct 28, 2026 Lake Buchanan was 95.7% full, 1.67 feet below its full pool elevation of 1,020.00 ft. It was last full on Jul 31, 2025.
What is the normal level of Lake Buchanan for this time of year?
Between 1996 and 2025, Lake Buchanan averaged 76.2% full around Oct 28, and 8 in 10 years it was between 43.7% and 99.8%. Today it is +19.5 percentage points above that average.
What is the lowest Lake Buchanan has been?
In the TWDB record, which starts in 1937, the lowest daily value was 12.8% on Sep 30, 1937. The highest was 100.0% on Jul 27, 1938.
How often is the Lake Buchanan water level updated?
TWDB publishes one reading per day for each reservoir. We check for new data every 2 hours and show the date of the reading next to the level. Recent values are provisional.
What does percent full mean?
It is the water stored in the conservation pool divided by the conservation capacity (866,694 acre-feet for Lake Buchanan). Water above the conservation pool is flood storage and is not counted, so a reservoir can show 100% while rising into its flood pool.