Horseshoe Reservoir water level — Arizona
Horseshoe Reservoir in Arizona was last measured at 28,270 acre-ft of storage (no elevation gauge reported), as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:30 AM (UTC-07:00) (USGS Water Services). This reading is provisional and subject to revision.
- Pool elevation
- Not reported
- % of conservation pool full
- Not reported
- Storage
- 28,270 acre-ft
- Recent trend
- Not enough data
This station reports storage but no elevation gauge — its managing agency does not publish a pool-elevation reading here.
Recent trend
Not enough recent readings to show a trend.
Data: USGS Water Services (waterservices.usgs.gov) and USACE CWMS Data (cwms-data.usace.army.mil), retrieved 2026-08-31. Both public domain (a work of the U.S. Government, 17 U.S.C. §105).
Source: USGS site 09509501, retrieved Aug 31, 2026, 8:24 AM (UTC+00:00). Official page for this lake →
About this gauge's record
This site's drainage basin covers approximately 5,973 sq mi of contributing watershed.
The dam behind Horseshoe Reservoir
Horseshoe Reservoir is held back by Horseshoe Dam (also recorded as Horseshoe Reservoir) , a rockfill embankment — quarried rock placed in compacted layers around a sealing core , standing 202 ft high and running 1,140 ft along its crest , built across VERDE RIVER in Maricopa County , near FORT MCDOWELL . It was completed in 1946 and modified in 1996E;1996H;1996S , and is owned by BUREAU OF RECLAMATION (a federal owner) , to a design credited to BUREAU OF RECLAMATION.
Its recorded primary purpose is irrigation — the pool is drawn down across the growing season to serve water rights downstream, then refilled over winter . It also serves irrigation;water supply.
Its spillway is gated, so the operator can hold the pool above the spillway crest and meter what leaves. The spillway opening is 78 ft wide. Its outlet works use tainter (radial)3.
NID classes it high hazard potential. That describes what a failure would cost downstream — loss of life would be expected — and says nothing about how likely a failure is, or what condition the dam is in.
At its normal pool the reservoir covers about 3,656 acres. NID records a maximum storage of 214,372 acre-ft against a normal storage of 131,427 acre-ft. Its maximum discharge capacity is 156,000 cubic feet per second.
Dam facts: National Inventory of Dams record AZ10310 , filed by Bureau of Reclamation — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, public domain. Water levels above come from USGS Water Services and are a separate source. (How this dam was matched to this gauge →)
Nearby lakes
The six nearest published lakes by centroid distance (great-circle) — cross-state neighbors included.
| Lake | State | Level | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bartlett Reservoir | AZ | — | 20 km |
| Cragin Dam Reservoir | AZ | — | 80 km |
| Whitlow Ranch Dam | AZ | 2,065.11 ft | 86 km |
| San Carlos Reservoir | AZ | — | 142 km |
| Tat Momolikat Dam | AZ | 1,494.48 ft | 150 km |
| Painted Rock Dam | AZ | 535.02 ft | 157 km |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the current water level of Horseshoe Reservoir?
- This lake reports storage (28,270 acre-ft as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:30 AM (UTC-07:00)) but no elevation gauge — its managing agency does not publish a pool-elevation reading here.
- Is Horseshoe Reservoir full right now?
- Its managing agency does not publish a %-of-conservation-pool-full figure for this lake, so we show the bare level rather than estimate one.
- Where does this data come from?
- From USGS site 09509501, retrieved Aug 31, 2026, 8:24 AM (UTC+00:00).
More in Arizona
See every lake tracked in Arizona, or read the methodology behind these figures.