Laurel Dam water level — Kentucky
Laurel Dam in Kentucky was last measured at 368,550 acre-ft of storage (no elevation gauge reported), as of Aug 31, 2026, 5:00 AM (UTC+00:00) (USACE CWMS Data).
- Pool elevation
- Not reported
- % of conservation pool full
- Not reported
- Storage
- 368,550 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: USACE LRN/LAPK2-LAUREL, retrieved Aug 31, 2026, 8:24 AM (UTC+00:00). Official page for this lake →
About this gauge's record
USACE's continuous storage record for this project begins in 1987 .
The dam behind Laurel Dam
Laurel Dam is held back by Laurel Dam (also recorded as Laurel Lake;Laurel River Lake) , a rockfill embankment — quarried rock placed in compacted layers around a sealing core , standing 282 ft high and running 1,420 ft along its crest , built across LAUREL in Laurel County , near BURNSIDE . It was completed in 1973 , and is owned by USACE - Nashville District (a federal owner) , to a design credited to CELRN.
Its recorded primary purpose is recreation — holding a stable pool through the season is an operating goal, so a level well off normal in summer is unusual rather than routine . It also serves recreation;other;hydroelectric;water supply;flood risk reduction.
It is founded on rock, with a earth core. Its spillway is ungated: once the pool reaches the crest, water leaves on its own and the operator cannot hold it back. The spillway opening is 750 ft wide.
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 6,060 acres. NID records a maximum storage of 435,600 acre-ft against a normal storage of 185,000 acre-ft. Its maximum discharge capacity is 86,000 cubic feet per second.
Dam facts: National Inventory of Dams record KY03046 , filed by US Army Corps of Engineers — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, public domain. Water levels above come from USACE CWMS Data 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laurel River | KY | 1,019.94 ft | 13 km |
| Wolf Creek Dam | KY | 703.70 ft | 79 km |
| Buckhorn Lake at Buckhorn | KY | 782.23 ft | 82 km |
| Trace Branch at Trace Branch Campground at Confluence | KY | 782.77 ft | 87 km |
| Martins Fork Lake | KY | 1,309.83 ft | 93 km |
| Herrington Lake | KY | 740.15 ft | 99 km |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the current water level of Laurel Dam?
- This lake reports storage (368,550 acre-ft as of Aug 31, 2026, 5:00 AM (UTC+00:00)) but no elevation gauge — its managing agency does not publish a pool-elevation reading here.
- Is Laurel Dam 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 USACE LRN/LAPK2-LAUREL, retrieved Aug 31, 2026, 8:24 AM (UTC+00:00).
More in Kentucky
See every lake tracked in Kentucky, or read the methodology behind these figures.