Lake Lanier water level
Chattahoochee River · Georgia · operated by USACE Mobile (Buford Dam)
By Michael, independent developer behind zovo.one. Readings pulled live from the same USGS feed the operator reports to.
Lake Lanier is at 1,062.7 ft as of Nov 5, 2026, per USGS data: 7.7 ft below the 1,070.4 ft seasonal target and 8.3 ft below the 1,071 ft full pool.
Lake Lanier today: level, trend, source and access
Level against full pool
On Nov 5, 2026 the surface sat at 1,062.7 ft, 8.3 ft below the full-pool mark of 1,071 ft.
Level against the seasonal target
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District runs Lake Lanier on a seasonal top of conservation pool (guide curve), so the level it aims for changes through the year. For Nov 5, 2026 the top of conservation pool is 1,070.4 ft, 0.6 ft under the 1,071 ft summer level, and the target is falling. The surface, at 1,062.7 ft, is 7.7 ft below that target and 8.3 ft below the full-pool mark of 1,071 ft. So the lake sits lower than its seasonal curve for this date: the planned seasonal drawdown accounts for 0.6 ft of the 8.3 ft gap to full pool.
The Corps keeps Lake Lanier 1 ft lower in winter (1,070 ft) than in summer (1,071 ft) to hold flood space at Buford Dam. It lowers the target between October and December and raises it again in the last half of April.
Between two dates the target moves in a straight line, as the published curve does. Source: USACE CWMS Data API, office SAM, location level "Buford.Elev.Inst.0.Top of Conservation" (2026 breakpoints), read on Oct 26, 2026. The operator can deviate from its curve for floods, droughts or dam work.
Trend
Between Oct 7 and Nov 5 (29 days) the level fell 1.1 ft, about 0.3 ft a week. The high in that window was 1,063.8 ft on Oct 10 and the low was 1,062.6 ft on Nov 3. In the last 7 days it fell 0.2 ft. The last 24 hours moved it up 0.13 ft.
Data source
The elevation comes from USGS monitoring location 02334400 (reservoir elevation, parameter 00062), last reported Nov 5, 2026. Feet from full pool, the trend and the figures above are computed from that reading and the published full-pool elevation; none is typed by hand. USACE Mobile (Buford Dam) runs the dam on the Chattahoochee River.
Recreation status
Status: well below seasonal target. At 8.3 ft below full pool, the shallowest ramps can be out of the water. Check the one you plan to use with USACE Mobile (Buford Dam). Against the seasonal target the lake is 7.7 ft below the level USACE Mobile District plans for this date. If the 30-day pace of 0.3 ft a week down held, the surface would be near 1,061.7 ft in four weeks. Releases and rain change that quickly.
Check an elevation against full pool
For readers outside the U.S., the surface of Lake Lanier is about 323.9 m above sea level, and full pool is about 326.4 m.
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.