Rathbun Lake water level: Rathbun 
2.3 ft high
Rathbun Lake is 2.3 ft above full pool, about normal for early November. The Rathbun Dam & Reservoir gauge read 906.30 ft at 8:00 AM CST, November 4, 2026.
How Rathbun stands today
- 906.30 Feet above sea level8:00 AM CST, November 4, 2026, LOCAL datum.
- +2.30 Feet from full poolFull pool today is 904.00 ft.
- 111.9 Percent of conservation storageWater held above bottom of conservation, as a share of the pool's capacity.
- +1.27 Feet from normal for Nov 4Median of 1996–2025 is 905.03 ft. Today ranks in the 73rd percentile.
- +1.66 Feet from a year ago904.64 ft on November 4, 2025.
- −1.57 Feet over 30 days+0.61 ft over the past 7 days.
The past year, day by day
The shaded band is where Rathbun 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 | 906.19 | 905.03 |
| November 3, 2026 | 905.87 | 905.03 |
| November 2, 2026 | 905.77 | 905.03 |
| November 1, 2026 | 905.77 | 905.03 |
| October 31, 2026 | 905.75 | 904.98 |
| October 30, 2026 | 905.69 | 904.90 |
| October 29, 2026 | 905.69 | 904.82 |
| October 28, 2026 | 905.69 | 904.72 |
| October 27, 2026 | 905.71 | 904.66 |
| October 26, 2026 | 905.72 | 904.50 |
| October 25, 2026 | 905.73 | 904.36 |
| October 24, 2026 | 905.73 | 904.29 |
| October 23, 2026 | 905.75 | 904.25 |
| October 22, 2026 | 905.81 | 904.23 |
| October 21, 2026 | 905.89 | 904.22 |
| Date | Level (ft) | Normal (ft) |
|---|---|---|
| October 20, 2026 | 905.96 | 904.23 |
| October 19, 2026 | 906.05 | 904.25 |
| October 18, 2026 | 906.19 | 904.26 |
| October 17, 2026 | 906.35 | 904.26 |
| October 16, 2026 | 906.55 | 904.24 |
| October 15, 2026 | 906.67 | 904.20 |
| October 14, 2026 | 906.80 | 904.20 |
| October 13, 2026 | 906.92 | 904.20 |
| October 12, 2026 | 907.01 | 904.19 |
| October 11, 2026 | 907.11 | 904.19 |
| October 10, 2026 | 907.20 | 904.19 |
| October 9, 2026 | 907.30 | 904.27 |
| October 8, 2026 | 907.43 | 904.34 |
| October 7, 2026 | 907.58 | 904.41 |
| October 6, 2026 | 907.74 | 904.48 |
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 (LOCAL, 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 | 903.01 | 904.23 | 905.37 | — |
| February | 903.10 | 904.37 | 906.01 | — |
| March | 903.39 | 904.42 | 905.98 | — |
| April | 903.62 | 904.84 | 906.57 | — |
| May | 904.20 | 905.69 | 907.60 | — |
| June | 904.32 | 905.48 | 910.61 | — |
| July | 904.43 | 905.48 | 908.29 | — |
| August | 903.99 | 904.91 | 906.05 | — |
| September | 903.68 | 905.03 | 905.78 | — |
| October | 903.24 | 904.17 | 909.46 | — |
| November | 903.20 | 904.30 | 906.42 | — |
| December | 902.99 | 904.09 | 905.81 | — |
Other Iowa lakes, lowest first
| Lake | Level (ft) | Vs full pool |
|---|---|---|
 Saylorville Lake | 838.44 | 2.4 ft above |
 Coralville Lake | 687.32 | 4.3 ft above |
 Lake Red Rock | 747.37 | 5.4 ft above |
Rathbun questions
What is full pool at Rathbun Lake?
Full pool at Rathbun Lake is 904.00 ft above sea level today. The agency's own term for it is “top of conservation.”
Is Rathbun Lake full right now?
It is over full: 2.3 ft above full pool, with flood storage up to 926.00 ft. Water above full pool is flood water the dam is holding back and releasing over time.
Is Rathbun Lake lower than normal for early November?
No, it is close to normal. The median level on Nov 4 across 1996–2025 is 905.03 ft, and today's 906.30 ft is +1.27 ft from it. In 8 of 10 years the level on this date fell between 902.50 and 909.40 ft.
How does Rathbun Lake compare with last year?
A year ago, on November 4, 2025, it stood at 904.64 ft. It is 1.66 ft higher 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 926.70 ft on July 24, 2010 and the lowest was 898.39 ft on January 26, 1995.
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 15:13:17 UTC. Readings are provisional and can be revised by the agency.