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# Hungry Horse Reservoir water level

Live reservoir storage and water level in Flathead-Columbia basin, Montana

_Data through Aug 12, 2026 · source last checked Aug 13, 2026 · page revised Aug 13, 2026_

> Now 3.32M af, 1% below the 5-yr median, 96% of capacity.

Hungry Horse storage stood at 3.34M af, down 3.2% from the prior month and 1.0% week-over-week, with the reservoir at 96% of capacity. Storage is tracking the 5-year median.

## The numbers

| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Week over week | 3.32M af | 3.36M af | -1.1% |
| Month over month | 3.32M af | 3.44M af | -3.5% |
| Year over year | 3.32M af | 3.35M af | -0.9% |
| vs 5-yr median | 3.32M af | 3.35M af | -0.7% |

### Reservoir facts

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full pool elevation | 3,560 ft above sea level | USBR |
| Maximum depth at the dam | 520 ft | USBR |
| Surface area at full pool | 24,100 acres | USACE NID |
| Total capacity | 3,467,179 acre-feet | USBR |

## About Hungry Horse Reservoir

Hungry Horse Dam holds back the South Fork of the Flathead River in northwest Montana, a Reclamation project wired into the Columbia River power system. The arch dam rises 564 feet, among the tallest in the country, behind a reservoir near 3.5 million acre-feet. Reclamation runs it mainly for hydropower and flood control, coordinated with the wider Columbia network.

Total capacity is 3.47M af, over the past five years storage has ranged from 2.39M af to 3.46M 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](https://www.usbr.gov/projects/index.php?id=255); surface area from [the Army Corps' National Inventory of Dams](https://nid.sec.usace.army.mil/#/dams/system/MT00565/summary); total capacity from the Bureau of Reclamation.

## About this data

- Source: US Bureau of Reclamation RISE; California reservoirs via CA DWR CDEC
- Series: End-of-day reservoir storage
- Geography: Hungry Horse Reservoir water level
- Unit: acre-feet
- Calculation period: Daily reading
- Last observation: Aug 12, 2026
- Update frequency: Daily

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Cite: Hungry Horse Reservoir water level is 1% below its 5-yr median for the date. The Waterline, data through Aug 12, 2026. https://the-waterline.com/reservoir/hungry-horse-reservoir
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