Lewis Smith Lake water level
Sipsey Fork (Black Warrior River) · Alabama · operated by TVA / Alabama Power
By Michael, independent developer behind zovo.one. Readings pulled live from the same USACE feed the operator reports to.
Lewis Smith Lake is at 498.5 ft as of Nov 5, 2026, per USACE data: 0.1 ft above the 498.4 ft seasonal target and 11.5 ft below the 510 ft full pool.
Lewis Smith Lake today: level, trend, source and access
Level against full pool
On Nov 5, 2026 the surface sat at 498.5 ft, 11.5 ft below the full-pool mark of 510 ft.
Level against the seasonal target
Alabama Power Company runs Lewis Smith Lake on a seasonal guide curve, so the level it aims for changes through the year. For Nov 5, 2026 the guide curve is 498.4 ft, 11.6 ft under the 510 ft summer level, and the target is falling. The surface, at 498.5 ft, is 0.1 ft above that target and 11.5 ft below the full-pool mark of 510 ft. So the lake is where its operator wants it for the date; the gap to full pool is the planned seasonal drawdown, not a shortage.
Alabama Power draws Smith Lake down about 14 ft between July and December, holds it near 496 ft in December and January, and refills it to the 510 ft full pond by April.
Between two dates the target moves in a straight line, as the published curve does. Source: USACE CWMS Data API, office SAM, time series "Smith.Elev.Inst.1Hour.0.GC-APCO" (Alabama Power guide curve, hourly values 26 Oct 2025 to 26 Oct 2026), 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 0.1 ft, less than 0.1 ft a week. The high in that window was 499.0 ft on Oct 16 and the low was 498.4 ft on Nov 3. In the last 7 days it fell 0.2 ft. That reverses the earlier rise. The last 24 hours moved it up 0.06 ft.
Data source
The elevation comes from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers CWMS Data API, Smith Dam pool, Alabama Power reading carried by USACE Mobile District, office SAM, time series Smith.Elev.Inst.1Hour.0.Raw-APCO, 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. TVA / Alabama Power runs the dam on the Sipsey Fork (Black Warrior River).
Recreation status
Status: at seasonal target. At 11.5 ft below full pool, the shallowest ramps can be out of the water. Check the one you plan to use with TVA / Alabama Power. Against the seasonal target the lake is 0.1 ft above the level Alabama Power plans for this date.
Check an elevation against full pool
For readers outside the U.S., the surface of Lewis Smith Lake is about 151.9 m above sea level, and full pool is about 155.4 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.