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# Trinity Lake level

Live reservoir storage and water level in Trinity-Klamath basin, California

_Data through Aug 26, 2026 · source last checked Aug 27, 2026 · page revised Aug 27, 2026_

> Now 1.79M af, 33% above the 5-yr median, 73% of capacity.

Trinity storage dropped to 1.79M af, down 6.4% on the month and 9.2% year over year as summer drawdown continues. The lake sits 33% above the 5-year median at 73% of capacity.

## The numbers

| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Week over week | 1.79M af | 1.81M af | -1.3% |
| Month over month | 1.79M af | 1.91M af | -6.4% |
| Year over year | 1.79M af | 1.97M af | -9.2% |
| vs 5-yr median | 1.79M af | 1.35M af | +32.7% |

### Reservoir facts

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full pool elevation | 2,370 ft above sea level (top of active conservation pool) | USBR |
| Maximum depth at the dam | 440 ft | USBR |
| Surface area at full pool | 17,722 acres | USACE NID |
| Total capacity | 2,447,650 acre-feet | CDEC |

## About Trinity Lake

Trinity Dam blocks the Trinity River as the head of the CVP's Trinity River Division. Much of the inflow never continues down the Trinity: Reclamation diverts it through the Clear Creek Tunnel into Whiskeytown Lake and the Sacramento basin, generating power on the way. Federal law still lists the reservoir as Clair Engle Lake, though the state and most maps call it Trinity.

Total capacity is 2.45M af, over the past five years storage has ranged from 521,120 af to 2.27M af.

Trinity Lake is one of the 20 major reservoirs this site totals each day, and one of several it tracks in the Trinity-Klamath 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=266); surface area from [the Army Corps' National Inventory of Dams](https://nid.sec.usace.army.mil/#/dams/system/CA10196/summary); total capacity from [the California Data Exchange Center](https://cdec.water.ca.gov/dynamicapp/staMeta?station_id=CLE).

## About this data

- Source: US Bureau of Reclamation RISE; California reservoirs via CA DWR CDEC
- Series: End-of-day reservoir storage
- Geography: Trinity Lake level
- Unit: acre-feet
- Calculation period: Daily reading
- Last observation: Aug 26, 2026
- Update frequency: Daily

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Cite: Trinity Lake level is 33% above its 5-yr median for the date. The Waterline, data through Aug 26, 2026. https://the-waterline.com/reservoir/trinity-lake
Canonical URL: https://the-waterline.com/reservoir/trinity-lake