<!-- canonical: https://the-waterline.com/reservoir/lake-havasu -->
<!-- Machine-readable Markdown for agents. Append .md to any page URL; index at https://the-waterline.com/llms.txt -->

# Lake Havasu water level

Live reservoir storage and water level in Colorado (Lower) basin, Arizona / California

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

> Now 530,168 af, 9% below the 5-yr median, 86% of capacity.

Lake Havasu storage dropped to 530,168 af, down 9.1% on the year. The reservoir is 9% below the 5-yr median and stands at 86% of capacity. Storage shed 1.5% week to week.

## The numbers

| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Week over week | 530,168 af | 538,184 af | -1.5% |
| Month over month | 530,168 af | 533,592 af | -0.6% |
| Year over year | 530,168 af | 582,968 af | -9.1% |
| vs 5-yr median | 530,168 af | 582,968 af | -9.1% |

### Reservoir facts

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full pool elevation | 450 ft above sea level (maximum water surface elevation) | USBR |
| Maximum depth at the dam | 80 ft | USBR |
| Surface area at full pool | 20,390 acres | USACE NID |
| Total capacity | 619,400 acre-feet | USBR |

## About Lake Havasu

Parker Dam impounds Lake Havasu on the lower Colorado, the forebay for two of the Southwest's largest diversions: Metropolitan Water District's Colorado River Aqueduct to coastal Southern California and the Central Arizona Project pumping toward Phoenix and Tucson. Roughly three-quarters of Parker Dam's height sits below the original riverbed, which is why it is often called the deepest dam in the world.

Total capacity is 619,400 af, over the past five years storage has ranged from 498,457 af to 605,080 af.

Lake Havasu is one of the 20 major reservoirs this site totals each day, and one of several it tracks in the Colorado (Lower) 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 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=207); surface area from [the Army Corps' National Inventory of Dams](https://nid.sec.usace.army.mil/#/dams/system/AZ10312/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: Lake Havasu water level
- Unit: acre-feet
- Calculation period: Daily reading
- Last observation: Aug 25, 2026
- Update frequency: Daily

---
Cite: Lake Havasu water level is 9% below its 5-yr median for the date. The Waterline, data through Aug 25, 2026. https://the-waterline.com/reservoir/lake-havasu
Canonical URL: https://the-waterline.com/reservoir/lake-havasu
