Home› Lakes› California

Lake Isabella water level

Kern River · California · operated by USACE (Isabella Dam)

By Michael, independent developer behind zovo.one. Readings pulled live from the same CDEC feed the operator reports to.

Lake Isabella is 25% full as of Oct 9, 2026, per CDEC data; 17.1 ft below full pool.

low 17.1 ft below full pool

CDEC 144,485 acre-ft · updated Oct 9, 2026

25%

percent full

2,555.9

water level (ft msl)

17.1

ft below full pool

−0.11

24-hour change (ft)

2,573

full pool (ft ref.)

0.57M

capacity (acre-ft)

At 2,555.93 ft, Lake Isabella is higher than 56% of Octobers in 42 years of daily record. Full Lake Isabella almanac, $19 → what is in it

Can I launch? Check before you go.

Lake is well below normal pool. Expect closed ramps and exposed hazards. Launching is risky; verify conditions.

~30-day trend · reservoir elevation

2,559 2,556 now 2,556

Is that normal for the date?

At 2,555.93 ft, Lake Isabella is higher than 56% of Octobers in 42 years of daily record.

The full Lake Isabella almanac, $1942 years of daily record, the normal band for all 366 days, and a tool that tells you how often the lake has been below your ramp or dock elevation. Instant download. See a sample almanac (Lake Powell)or all 19 lakes for $79Checkout runs on Stripe under our parent company, BeLikeNative (Autom8 LLC). That name appears on the receipt and card statement.

The median for this date across 42 years is 2,550.68 ft, so this is +5.25 ft against the lake’s own history. Placed on a quantile ladder built from 13,286 daily readings published by CDEC for site ISB, 1985-01-01 to 2026-08-06. This reservoir typically peaks in June and bottoms out in January.

How the level compares lately

Over the roughly 30-day series the gage fell 3.5 ft; the last 24 hours moved it down 0.1 ft. For readers outside the U.S., the surface is about 779.0 m above sea level.

Check any elevation yourself. Type a level in feet above sea level (a ramp cutoff, a marina mark) to see how far it sits below full pool and in meters.

Elevation, ft above sea level

About Lake Isabella

Full pool

2,573 ft

Capacity

568,075 AF

Dam / operator

USACE (Isabella Dam)

River / basin

Kern River

State

California

Data feed

CDEC

Run a marina, guide service or boat rental at Lake Isabella? Sponsor this page: one local business per lake, $49 a month, cancel any time. How it works or email support@zovo.one.

Where these numbers come from

Every figure on this page is recomputed in code from a public government feed, never typed by hand. The live elevation is a CDEC gage reading; feet below full pool, the operating-band gaps, the ~30-day change, and the meter conversion are all derived from that one validated reading and the published reference elevations. The reading is timestamped in the gauge above, and LakeLevelNow pulls the same feed the operator reports to.

Questions about Lake Isabella

How full is Lake Isabella right now?

Lake Isabella is about 25% full as of Oct 9, 2026.

Can I launch a boat at Lake Isabella?

Lake is well below normal pool. Expect closed ramps and exposed hazards. Launching is risky; verify conditions. Individual ramps open and close on their own schedules and on local hazards.

Where does Lake Isabella's level come from?

LakeLevelNow pulls it from the CDEC public water-data feed (California Data Exchange). The reading is timestamped in the gauge above.

Who operates Lake Isabella?

Lake Isabella, on the Kern River, is operated by USACE (Isabella Dam). Reservoir releases, flood-control drawdowns, and water-supply decisions are theirs.

LakeLevelNow is free, ad-light and built by one person. If it saved you a wasted drive to a dry ramp, you can chip in. Michael

Chip in $5

More lakes in California

Lake Isabella water level

Is that normal for the date?

How the level compares lately

About Lake Isabella

Where these numbers come from

Questions about Lake Isabella

More lakes in California

Related calculators