Reservoirs
Near normalFolsom Lake level
Live reservoir storage and water level in American-Sacramento basin, California
Data through Aug 12, 2026 · source last checked Aug 13, 2026 · page revised Aug 13, 2026
Cite
- Storage
About this data
- Source
- US Bureau of Reclamation RISE; California reservoirs via CA DWR CDEC
- Series
- End-of-day reservoir storage
- Geography
- Folsom Lake level
- Unit
- acre-feet
- Calculation
- Daily reading
- Last observation
- Aug 12, 2026
- Update frequency
- Daily
Now 556,962 af, 6% above the 5-yr median, 57% of capacity.
Folsom storage fell to 581,190 af, down 8.1% on the week and 27.2% over the month. The lake sits 7% above its 5-year median and is up 11.9% year over year.
| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week over week | 556,962 af | 609,558 af | -8.6% |
| Month over month | 556,962 af | 778,233 af | -28.4% |
| Year over year | 556,962 af | 505,672 af | +10.1% |
| vs 5-yr median | 556,962 af | 525,949 af | +5.9% |
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Full pool elevation | 466 ft above sea level | USBR |
| Maximum depth at the dam | 275.4 ft | USBR |
| Surface area at full pool | 11,180 acres | USACE NID |
| Total capacity | 977,000 acre-feet | CDEC |
About Folsom Lake
Folsom Dam holds back the American River just above Sacramento, a CVP reservoir built as much for flood control as for supply. A large share of its roughly one-million-acre-foot capacity stays empty through winter as flood space for the city below. Reclamation operates the water and power while California State Parks runs the shoreline recreation area.
Total capacity is 977,000 af, over the past five years storage has ranged from 214,225 af to 959,148 af.
Those figures describe the reservoir at full pool, not today. The chart at the top of this page tracks storage in acre-feet rather than water depth, so read the current figure against total capacity for how full the reservoir is, and against the full pool elevation and maximum depth for the size of the water column behind the dam. The two do not move together one for one: a reservoir narrows as it deepens, so one holding half its capacity still stands more than half as deep.
Sources: full pool elevation and maximum depth from the Bureau of Reclamation; surface area from the Army Corps' National Inventory of Dams; total capacity from the California Data Exchange Center.