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# New Don Pedro Reservoir water level

Live reservoir storage and water level in Tuolumne-San Joaquin basin, California

_Data through Aug 11, 2026 · source last checked Aug 13, 2026 · page revised Aug 13, 2026_

> Now 1.67M af, 1% below the 5-yr median, 82% of capacity.

New Don Pedro storage fell to 1.68M af, down 7.6% since early July. The reservoir sits 1% below its 5-year median and holds 83% of capacity.

## The numbers

| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Week over week | 1.67M af | 1.70M af | -1.7% |
| Month over month | 1.67M af | 1.81M af | -7.6% |
| Year over year | 1.67M af | 1.71M af | -2.2% |
| vs 5-yr median | 1.67M af | 1.70M af | -1.4% |

### Reservoir facts

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full pool elevation | 830 ft above sea level | TID |
| Maximum depth at the dam | 560 ft | USACE NID |
| Surface area at full pool | 12,960 acres | TID |
| Total capacity | 2,030,000 acre-feet | CDEC |

## About New Don Pedro Reservoir

New Don Pedro Dam backs up the Tuolumne River in the Sierra foothills, owned and operated by the Turlock and Modesto Irrigation Districts rather than a federal agency. At roughly two million acre-feet it counts among California's larger reservoirs, run for irrigation, hydropower, and flood control. The districts coordinate its winter flood space with the Army Corps of Engineers.

Total capacity is 2.03M af, over the past five years storage has ranged from 968,734 af to 1.97M 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 surface area from [the Turlock Irrigation District](https://www.tid.org/facilities/don-pedro-reservoir/); maximum depth from [the Army Corps' National Inventory of Dams](https://nid.sec.usace.army.mil/#/dams/system/CA00281/summary); total capacity from [the California Data Exchange Center](https://cdec.water.ca.gov/dynamicapp/staMeta?station_id=DNP).

## About this data

- Source: US Bureau of Reclamation RISE; California reservoirs via CA DWR CDEC
- Series: End-of-day reservoir storage
- Geography: New Don Pedro Reservoir water level
- Unit: acre-feet
- Calculation period: Daily reading
- Last observation: Aug 11, 2026
- Update frequency: Daily

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Cite: New Don Pedro Reservoir water level is 1% below its 5-yr median for the date. The Waterline, data through Aug 11, 2026. https://the-waterline.com/reservoir/new-don-pedro-reservoir
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