Reservoirs
Near normalFolsom Lake level
Live reservoir storage and water level in American-Sacramento basin, California
Data through Oct 15, 2026 · source last checked Oct 17, 2026 · page revised Oct 16, 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
- Oct 15, 2026
- Update frequency
- Daily
Now 401,070 af, 8% below the 5-yr median, 41% of capacity.
Folsom storage fell to 401,070 af, down 3.5% on the week and 9.2% over the month. The reservoir sits 8% below its 5-year median and holds 41% of capacity.
| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week over week | 401,070 af | 415,446 af | -3.5% |
| Month over month | 401,070 af | 441,679 af | -9.2% |
| Year over year | 401,070 af | 437,066 af | -8.2% |
| vs 5-yr median | 401,070 af | 434,872 af | -7.8% |
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Latest reading, Oct 15, 2026 | 403.2 ft above sea level |
| Change from a week earlier | -2.06 ft |
| Change from a year earlier | -5.07 ft |
| 5-yr median for the date | 407.97 ft |
| Below full pool | 62.8 ft |
| Five-year low | 370.28 ft (Oct 21, 2021) |
| Five-year high | 464.4 ft (May 12, 2026) |
| 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 |
Previous weeks
An earlier week
Folsom storage fell to 404,045 af, down 3.0% on the week. At 41% of capacity and 8% below the 5-year median, the lake has fallen 8.7% since the prior month.
Week of Oct 7, 2026
Folsom storage fell to 416,720 af, down 2.2% on the week and 7.5% on the month. The reservoir sits at 43% of capacity and 6% below its 5-year median.
Week of Sep 23, 2026
Folsom storage fell to 433,496 af, down 1.5% on the week and 10.1% on the month. It stands 4% below the 5-year median at 44% of capacity.
Week of Sep 15, 2026
Folsom Lake storage reached 441,679 af through Sept 15, down 16.3% over the month as summer drawdown continued. The lake sits 4% below its 5-year median and at 45% of capacity.
About Folsom Lake
Folsom Lake's water level is 403.2 feet above sea level as of Oct 15, 2026, 62.8 feet below full pool (466 feet), with 401,070 acre-feet in storage (41% of capacity). That is 2.06 feet lower than a week earlier and 5.07 feet lower than a year earlier.
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.
Folsom Lake is one of the 21 major reservoirs this site totals each day. For the combined picture, western reservoir levels carries the storage of all 21 on one chart, which is the number to watch when the question is about the West as a whole rather than about this project.
Those figures describe the reservoir at full pool, not today. The chart at the top of this page tracks storage in acre-feet and the elevation table tracks the water surface in feet, so read storage against total capacity for how full the reservoir is, and the elevation 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.