Reservoirs
Near normalFolsom Lake level
Live reservoir storage and water level in American-Sacramento basin, California
Data through Sep 23, 2026 · source last checked Oct 1, 2026 · page revised Sep 24, 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
- Sep 23, 2026
- Update frequency
- Daily
Now 433,496 af, 4% below the 5-yr median, 44% of capacity.
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.
| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week over week | 433,496 af | 440,068 af | -1.5% |
| Month over month | 433,496 af | 481,977 af | -10.1% |
| Year over year | 433,496 af | 452,059 af | -4.1% |
| vs 5-yr median | 433,496 af | 452,059 af | -4.1% |
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Latest reading, Sep 23, 2026 | 407.78 ft above sea level |
| Change from a week earlier | -0.9 ft |
| Change from a year earlier | -2.52 ft |
| 5-yr median for the date | 410.3 ft |
| Below full pool | 58.22 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
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.
Week of Sep 2, 2026
Folsom storage fell to 458,581 af, down 3.3% on the week and 3% below the 5-year median. Storage dropped 26.6% month over month, with the lake at 47% of capacity.
Week of Aug 26, 2026
Folsom Lake storage fell to 474,332 af, down 6.5% from the prior week. The month-to-date decline totals 30.3%. Storage is 1% below the 5-year median and 49% of capacity.
Week of Aug 19, 2026
Folsom Lake stands at 507,513 af, 3% above the 5-year median and 52% of capacity. Storage shed 8.9% on the week and 30.4% on the month amid summer drawdown. The lake is up 3.5% year-over-year.
About Folsom Lake
Folsom Lake's water level is 407.78 feet above sea level as of Sep 23, 2026, 58.22 feet below full pool (466 feet), with 433,496 acre-feet in storage (44% of capacity). That is 0.9 feet lower than a week earlier and 2.52 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.