Nebraska lake & reservoir water levels

1 lake tracked · 1 with a current elevation reading · USGS Water Services + USACE CWMS Data

Nebraska has 1 lake or reservoir tracked here — 1 with a current elevation reading, from USGS Water Services and USACE CWMS Data. Sort the table by level, storage, %-full, or trend, then open any lake for its full elevation-with-datum, trend sparkline, storage, and source-and-vintage stamp. Figures are provisional readings for reference — not for navigation or safety decisions.

Statewide totals Nebraska · USGS + USACE
Lakes tracked
1

1 report a current pool-elevation reading; the rest report storage only.

With elevation reading
1
With %-full figure
0

All Nebraska lakes

Every lake tracked in Nebraska. Click a column heading to sort, or filter by name. Elevation lakes are listed before storage-only lakes; a missing figure always shows "not reported," never an estimate.

Nebraska lakes, elevation lakes first, by name.
Datum Trend
Harlan County Lake 1,932.79 NGVD29 169,300 ↓Falling

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).

Every Nebraska lake in detail

Each lake tracked in Nebraska has its full record here — current reading, recent trend, and the dam behind it where the National Inventory of Dams has one. Use the table above to jump to a lake, or read straight through.

Harlan County Lake

USGS · reading Aug 31, 2026, 2:30 AM (UTC-05:00) Provisional

Pool elevation
1,932.79 ft

Datum NGVD29

% of conservation pool full
Not reported
Storage
169,300 acre-ft
Recent trend
↓Falling

−2.2 ft over the trend window

1937.8ft1932.8ftJun 2 – Aug 31

Harlan County Lake is held back by Harlan County Dam , a concrete gravity structure, resisting the reservoir by its own weight alone , standing 107 ft high and running 11,827 ft along its crest , built across REPUBLICAN in Harlan County , near NAPONEE . It was completed in 1952 , and is owned by USACE - Kansas City District , to a design credited to CENWK. Its recorded primary purpose is flood risk reduction — the pool is drawn down between storms so there is empty space waiting for the next flood, which is why this level can fall in dry weather and climb sharply after rain. Its spillway is gated, so the operator can hold the pool above the spillway crest and meter what leaves. 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. National Inventory of Dams record NE01066 — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, public domain.

Source: USGS site 06849000, retrieved Aug 31, 2026, 8:24 AM (UTC+00:00). Official page for Harlan County Lake →

Frequently asked questions

How many lakes and reservoirs in Nebraska are tracked here?
1, of which 1 report a current pool-elevation reading. The rest report storage only, or lack a fresh reading and are not published.
Which Nebraska lakes report a %-full figure?
None of Nebraska's lakes in this dataset currently have a source-provided %-full figure — we show the bare level rather than estimate one.
Where does the data come from?
USGS Water Services and USACE CWMS Data, both public domain. See the methodology page for the exact endpoints and update cadence.

Explore

Read the methodology behind these figures, or search all lakes nationally from the home page.