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# Blue Mesa Reservoir water level

Live reservoir storage and water level in Gunnison-Colorado basin, Colorado

_Data through Aug 25, 2026 · source last checked Aug 27, 2026 · page revised Aug 27, 2026_

> Now 189,745 af, 60% below the 5-yr median, 20% of capacity.

Blue Mesa storage stands at 189,745 af, down 59.9% year over year. The reservoir runs 60% below its 5-year median and holds 20% of capacity.

## The numbers

| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Week over week | 189,745 af | 203,619 af | -6.8% |
| Month over month | 189,745 af | 243,464 af | -22.1% |
| Year over year | 189,745 af | 472,936 af | -59.9% |
| vs 5-yr median | 189,745 af | 472,936 af | -59.9% |

### Reservoir facts

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full pool elevation | 7,519.4 ft above sea level (top of joint use pool) | USBR |
| Surface area at full pool | 9,219 acres | USBR |
| Total capacity | 940,700 acre-feet | USBR |

## About Blue Mesa Reservoir

Blue Mesa Dam forms the largest lake wholly within Colorado, impounding the Gunnison River as part of the Colorado River Storage Project's Wayne N. Aspinall Unit. Reclamation runs it for storage and hydropower, and the National Park Service manages the shoreline inside Curecanti National Recreation Area. It holds the state's largest lake-trout and Kokanee salmon fishery.

Total capacity is 940,700 af, over the past five years storage has ranged from 189,745 af to 765,190 af.

Blue Mesa Reservoir is one of the 20 major reservoirs this site totals each day, and one of several it tracks in the Gunnison-Colorado basin. For the combined picture, [western reservoir levels](/reservoir/tracked-total) carries the storage of all 20 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 rather than water depth, so read the current figure against total capacity for how full the reservoir is, and against the full pool elevation for how far the surface sits below a full reservoir. 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 Bureau of Reclamation](https://www.usbr.gov/tsc/techreferences/reservoir/BlueMesaReservoir2019SedimentationSurvey_Final508.pdf); 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: Blue Mesa Reservoir water level
- Unit: acre-feet
- Calculation period: Daily reading
- Last observation: Aug 25, 2026
- Update frequency: Daily

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Cite: Blue Mesa Reservoir water level is 60% below its 5-yr median for the date. The Waterline, data through Aug 25, 2026. https://the-waterline.com/reservoir/blue-mesa-reservoir
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