Reservoir · Nebraska · United States · BOR RISE
Box Butte Reservoir
Box Butte Reservoir and Dam
16.4% full
Capacity
38.31 hm³
Volume stored
6 hm³
Vs month average
68% of normal
Coordinates
42.458°N, 103.067°W
Last updated
2026-10-27
Current fill
16.4%vs 7 days ago
+0.5 ppgaining
vs 1 year ago
-7.9 ppyear-over-year
7-day trend
→stable
Drought context
Storage vs October average
68%of normal
16.4% full on 2026-10-27, against an average of 24.1% for October across 6 years of readings (-7.7 points).
Drought Monitor at this site · 20 October 2026
D2severe drought
The ground at Box Butte Reservoir's coordinates falls inside the D2 area of the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor map. That describes local conditions — rainfall, soil moisture, streamflow — not the reservoir's storage. Nebraska drought figures →
Data source: BOR RISE — US Bureau of Reclamation — daily reservoir storage volume. Capacity is the design (normal full-pool) capacity from the US National Inventory of Dams (NID); fill % = current volume ÷ design capacity. Last reading: 2026-10-27.
Catchment Weather
Past 30 days + 14-day forecast · Open-Meteo
Satellite imagery: Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics. Map: Esri, HERE, Garmin, © OpenStreetMap contributors. 42.458°N, 103.067°W · Open in Google Maps
About Box Butte Reservoir
As of October 27, 2026, Box Butte Reservoir is filled to 16.4% of its total capacity, holding 6.29 hm³ of water out of a maximum 38.31 hm³. At this level the reservoir is critically low.
Over the most recent week on record the fill level has held broadly steady (+0.5 pp), and it is 7.9 points below its level on the same date a year earlier.
Across the readings we hold for Box Butte Reservoir — 1950 data points between October 29, 2021 and October 27, 2026 — the level has ranged from a low of 9.4% (September 1, 2026) to a high of 67.3% (June 2, 2024). On average the reservoir is fullest around June and at its lowest around September.
It is operated by BOR primarily for multiple purposes. It is at 42.458°N, 103.067°W.
Key facts
- Current fill level
- 16.4% of total capacity
- Water stored
- 6.29 hm³
- Total capacity
- 38.31 hm³
- 7-day change
- ▲ 0.5 pp
- Year-on-year
- ▼ 7.9 pp
- Primary use
- Multipurpose
- Operator
- BOR
- Coordinates
- 42.458°N, 103.067°W
- Last updated
- October 27, 2026
Recent readings
| Date | Fill level | Volume (hm³) |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Oct 2026 | 16.4% | 6.29 |
| 26 Oct 2026 | 16.3% | 6.26 |
| 25 Oct 2026 | 16.2% | 6.19 |
| 24 Oct 2026 | 16.1% | 6.18 |
| 23 Oct 2026 | 16.1% | 6.17 |
| 22 Oct 2026 | 16.1% | 6.15 |
| 21 Oct 2026 | 16.0% | 6.12 |
| 20 Oct 2026 | 15.9% | 6.1 |
| 19 Oct 2026 | 15.9% | 6.08 |
| 18 Oct 2026 | 15.8% | 6.06 |
| 17 Oct 2026 | 15.7% | 6.03 |
| 16 Oct 2026 | 15.7% | 6.01 |