Reservoir · Kansas · United States · BOR RISE
Waconda Lake
Waconda Lake and Glen Elder Dam
97.6% full
Capacity
297.84 hm³
Volume stored
291 hm³
Vs month average
137% of normal
Coordinates
39.496°N, 98.313°W
Last updated
2026-10-27
Current fill
97.6%vs 7 days ago
0.0 ppstable
vs 1 year ago
+31.7 ppyear-over-year
7-day trend
→stable
Drought context
Storage vs October average
137%of normal
97.6% full on 2026-10-27, against an average of 71.3% for October across 6 years of readings (+26.3 points).
Drought Monitor at this site · 20 October 2026
Nonenot in a drought category
Waconda Lake's coordinates fall outside every category on the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor map. That describes local conditions — rainfall, soil moisture, streamflow — not the reservoir's storage. Kansas 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. 39.496°N, 98.313°W · Open in Google Maps
About Waconda Lake
As of October 27, 2026, Waconda Lake is filled to 97.6% of its total capacity, holding 290.65 hm³ of water out of a maximum 297.84 hm³. At this level the reservoir is high.
Over the most recent week on record the fill level has held broadly steady (+0.0 pp), and it is 31.7 points above its level on the same date a year earlier.
Across the readings we hold for Waconda Lake — 1946 data points between October 29, 2021 and October 27, 2026 — the level has ranged from a low of 60.0% (October 27, 2024) to a high of 98.2% (October 16, 2026). 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 39.496°N, 98.313°W.
Key facts
- Current fill level
- 97.6% of total capacity
- Water stored
- 290.65 hm³
- Total capacity
- 297.84 hm³
- 7-day change
- No change
- Year-on-year
- ▲ 31.7 pp
- Primary use
- Multipurpose
- Operator
- BOR
- Coordinates
- 39.496°N, 98.313°W
- Last updated
- October 27, 2026
Recent readings
| Date | Fill level | Volume (hm³) |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Oct 2026 | 97.6% | 290.65 |
| 26 Oct 2026 | 97.5% | 290.32 |
| 25 Oct 2026 | 97.4% | 290 |
| 24 Oct 2026 | 97.5% | 290.32 |
| 23 Oct 2026 | 97.5% | 290.49 |
| 22 Oct 2026 | 97.6% | 290.65 |
| 21 Oct 2026 | 97.6% | 290.81 |
| 20 Oct 2026 | 97.6% | 290.81 |
| 19 Oct 2026 | 97.7% | 290.97 |
| 18 Oct 2026 | 97.8% | 291.3 |
| 17 Oct 2026 | 98.0% | 291.95 |
| 16 Oct 2026 | 98.2% | 292.6 |