Reservoir · Nebraska · United States · BOR RISE
Box Butte Reservoir
Box Butte Reservoir and Dam
15.3% full
Capacity
38.31 hm³
Volume stored
6 hm³
Vs month average
61% of normal
Coordinates
42.458°N, 103.067°W
Last updated
2026-10-12
Current fill
15.3%vs 7 days ago
+0.4%gaining
vs 1 year ago
-7.6%year-over-year
7-day trend
→stable
Drought context
Storage vs October average
61%of normal
15.3% full on 2026-10-12, against an average of 25.2% for October across 6 years of readings (-9.9 points).
Drought Monitor at this site · 6 October 2026
D3extreme drought
The ground at Box Butte Reservoir's coordinates falls inside the D3 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: 2026-10-12.
Catchment Weather
Past 30 days + 14-day forecast · Open-Meteo
Satellite imagery: Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics. Map: Esri, HERE, Garmin, © OpenStreetMap contributors. 42.458, -103.067 · Open in Google Maps
About Box Butte Reservoir
As of October 12, 2026, Box Butte Reservoir is filled to 15.3% of its total capacity, holding roughly 6 hm³ of water out of a maximum 38 hm³. At this level the reservoir is critically low.
Over the most recent week on record the fill level has held broadly steady (+0.4 pts), and it is 7.6 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 14, 2021 and October 12, 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 lies within the Nebraska basin at 42.458°N, 103.067°W.
Key facts
- Current fill level
- 15.3%
- Water stored
- 6 hm³
- Total capacity
- 38 hm³
- 7-day change
- ▲ 0.4 pts
- Year-on-year
- ▼ 7.6 pts
- Primary use
- Multipurpose
- River basin
- Nebraska
- Operator
- BOR
- Coordinates
- 42.458°N, 103.067°W
- Last updated
- October 12, 2026
Recent readings
| Date | Fill level | Volume (hm³) |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Oct 2026 | 15.3% | 6 |
| 11 Oct 2026 | 15.3% | 6 |
| 10 Oct 2026 | 15.2% | 6 |
| 9 Oct 2026 | 15.2% | 6 |
| 8 Oct 2026 | 15.1% | 6 |
| 7 Oct 2026 | 15.0% | 6 |
| 6 Oct 2026 | 15.0% | 6 |
| 5 Oct 2026 | 14.9% | 6 |
| 4 Oct 2026 | 14.9% | 6 |
| 3 Oct 2026 | 14.8% | 6 |
| 2 Oct 2026 | 14.7% | 6 |
| 1 Oct 2026 | 14.7% | 6 |