Lake Sakakawea water level: Sakakawea 
13.6 ft low
Lake Sakakawea is 13.6 ft below full pool, lower than usual for early November. The Garrison Dam & Reservoir gauge read 1,823.92 ft at 7:00 AM CST, November 4, 2026.
How Sakakawea stands today
- 1,823.92 Feet above sea level7:00 AM CST, November 4, 2026, NGVD29 datum.
- −13.58 Feet from full poolFull pool today is 1,837.50 ft.
- −14.34 Feet from normal for Nov 4Median of 1996–2025 is 1,838.26 ft. Today ranks in the 17th percentile.
- −7.27 Feet from a year ago1,831.19 ft on November 4, 2025.
- −0.25 Feet over 30 days−0.04 ft over the past 7 days.
The past year, day by day
The shaded band is where Sakakawea usually sits on each date: the middle 80% of years from 1996 to 2025. The blue line is the past 12 months; the sand line is the 12 months before. Hover or use the arrow keys to read any day.
- Past 12 months
- The 12 months before
- Normal range (middle 80% of years)
- Median
- Full pool
Monthly average since 2006
Readings for the last 30 days
| Date | Level (ft) | Normal (ft) |
|---|---|---|
| November 4, 2026 | 1,823.92 | 1,838.26 |
| November 3, 2026 | 1,823.96 | 1,838.30 |
| November 2, 2026 | 1,823.99 | 1,838.31 |
| November 1, 2026 | 1,823.81 | 1,838.32 |
| October 31, 2026 | 1,823.79 | 1,838.33 |
| October 30, 2026 | 1,823.78 | 1,838.34 |
| October 29, 2026 | 1,823.87 | 1,838.35 |
| October 28, 2026 | 1,823.96 | 1,838.35 |
| October 27, 2026 | 1,823.81 | 1,838.36 |
| October 26, 2026 | 1,823.84 | 1,838.37 |
| October 25, 2026 | 1,823.93 | 1,838.38 |
| October 24, 2026 | 1,824.25 | 1,838.38 |
| October 23, 2026 | 1,823.94 | 1,838.39 |
| October 22, 2026 | 1,823.94 | 1,838.40 |
| October 21, 2026 | 1,823.97 | 1,838.42 |
| Date | Level (ft) | Normal (ft) |
|---|---|---|
| October 20, 2026 | 1,823.99 | 1,838.43 |
| October 19, 2026 | 1,823.95 | 1,838.42 |
| October 18, 2026 | 1,824.08 | 1,838.41 |
| October 17, 2026 | 1,824.03 | 1,838.40 |
| October 16, 2026 | 1,824.06 | 1,838.40 |
| October 15, 2026 | 1,824.43 | 1,838.40 |
| October 14, 2026 | 1,824.08 | 1,838.40 |
| October 13, 2026 | 1,824.17 | 1,838.40 |
| October 12, 2026 | 1,824.14 | 1,838.40 |
| October 11, 2026 | 1,824.15 | 1,838.40 |
| October 10, 2026 | 1,824.23 | 1,838.43 |
| October 9, 2026 | 1,824.11 | 1,838.45 |
| October 8, 2026 | 1,824.14 | 1,838.53 |
| October 7, 2026 | 1,824.23 | 1,838.53 |
| October 6, 2026 | 1,824.25 | 1,838.54 |
Is the water above your dock?
Enter the elevation of your dock, ramp end or a mark on your shoreline, in feet above sea level (NGVD29, the datum the Army Corps of Engineers uses for this gauge). You will see how far the water is above or below it today, and how often it dipped below it in each month since 2016.
| Month | Low year (10th %) | Median | High year (90th %) | Days above your mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1,828.13 | 1,838.04 | 1,839.54 | — |
| February | 1,827.70 | 1,837.43 | 1,838.48 | — |
| March | 1,827.25 | 1,836.82 | 1,839.26 | — |
| April | 1,827.20 | 1,836.09 | 1,842.05 | — |
| May | 1,828.24 | 1,836.65 | 1,845.74 | — |
| June | 1,829.85 | 1,839.82 | 1,850.45 | — |
| July | 1,834.47 | 1,842.01 | 1,852.17 | — |
| August | 1,832.58 | 1,841.10 | 1,849.12 | — |
| September | 1,831.30 | 1,839.15 | 1,845.81 | — |
| October | 1,830.50 | 1,838.85 | 1,843.10 | — |
| November | 1,830.41 | 1,839.10 | 1,841.29 | — |
| December | 1,829.37 | 1,838.70 | 1,840.30 | — |
Other North Dakota lakes, lowest first
| Lake | Level (ft) | Vs full pool |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Tschida | 2,057.74 | 6.8 ft below |
 Lake Oahe | 1,592.69 | 14.8 ft below |
| Lake Ashtabula | 1,265.34 | 0.7 ft below |
| Lake Darling | 1,596.45 | 0.6 ft below |
| Jamestown Reservoir | 1,429.88 | 1.9 ft above |
| Lake Audubon | 1,846.19 | 0.8 ft below |
Sakakawea questions
What is full pool at Lake Sakakawea?
Full pool at Lake Sakakawea is 1,837.50 ft above sea level today. The agency's own term for it is “top of conservation.”
Is Lake Sakakawea full right now?
No. It is 13.6 ft below full pool.
Is Lake Sakakawea lower than normal for early November?
Yes. The median level on Nov 4 across 1996–2025 is 1,838.26 ft, and today's 1,823.92 ft is −14.34 ft from it. In 8 of 10 years the level on this date fell between 1,813.99 and 1,842.84 ft.
How does Lake Sakakawea compare with last year?
A year ago, on November 4, 2025, it stood at 1,831.19 ft. It is 7.27 ft lower now.
What are the highest and lowest levels since 1994?
In the daily record we hold, which starts in 1994, the highest daily level was 1,854.54 ft on July 4, 2011 and the lowest was 1,805.80 ft on May 12, 2005.
How often is this page updated?
We pull new readings from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers several times a day. This page was last rebuilt on Wed, 04 Nov 2026 13:52:28 UTC. Readings are provisional and can be revised by the agency.