State · United States · USGS · BOR · USACE · CDEC
Colorado
45.8% average fill
Measured
40
Volume stored
2,598 hm³
Measured capacity
5,676 hm³
Critical
7
Low level
8
Below month average
23 of 40
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Drought Monitor · 27 October 2026
Weekly map · area in each categoryDrought status
49.7%
of the area in drought (D1 or worse)
Worst category: D4 exceptional drought
down 11.4 points on the week
Severe or worse (D2+)
28.5%
Extreme or worse (D3+)
12.6%
DSCI
1600–500
People in drought
3.9 million
Reservoirs (reservoirs.earth)
45.8% full40 tracked
Reservoirs on drought ground
24 of 4021 in D2 or worse
As of the 27 October 2026 U.S. Drought Monitor map, 49.7% of Colorado was in drought (D1 or worse), with 12.6% in extreme or exceptional drought (D3–D4). The 40 reservoirs we track in Colorado were 45.8% full on their latest readings. 24 of 40 tracked reservoir sites sit inside the drought area, 21 of them in severe drought (D2) or worse.
The Drought Monitor maps where conditions are dry this week — rainfall, soil moisture, streamflow — not how much water is stored. Reservoir storage lags it by months, so a region can be in drought with full reservoirs, or out of drought with empty ones. Source: droughtmonitor.unl.edu. The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Map courtesy of NDMC.
Reservoirs
Sorted by capacityBlue Mesa Reservoir
lowUpdated 2026-10-29· 39% of month avg· D2
Lake Granby
Updated 2026-10-29· 61% of month avg· D3
Mcphee Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 97% of month avg
John Martin Reservoir
criticalUpdated 2026-10-29· 177% of month avg
Pueblo Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-30· 100% of month avg· D2
Pueblo Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 84% of month avg· D2
Horsetooth Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 109% of month avg· D3
Green Mountain Reservoir
criticalUpdated 2026-10-29· 19% of month avg· D4
Twin Lakes Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 91% of month avg· D3
Vallecito Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 174% of month avg
Turquoise Lake
Updated 2026-10-29· 79% of month avg· D4
Lake Nighthorse
Updated 2026-10-29· 100% of month avg
Morrow Point Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 99% of month avg· D0
Carter Lake Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 78% of month avg· D3
Taylor Park Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 81% of month avg· D2
Ruedi Reservoir
lowUpdated 2026-10-29· 56% of month avg· D4
Ridgway Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 100% of month avg
Trinidad Lake
lowUpdated 2026-10-29· 96% of month avg· D1
Wolford Mountain Reservoir
lowUpdated 2026-10-29· 42% of month avg· D4
Rio Grande Res nr Creede
Updated 2026-10-30· 142% of month avg
Picketwire Ditch
Updated 2026-10-30· 127% of month avg
Platoro Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-28· 115% of month avg
Lemon Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 163% of month avg
Chatfield Dam & Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-06· 107% of month avg· D2
Vega Reservoir
criticalUpdated 2026-10-29· 63% of month avg· D1
Crystal Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 102% of month avg
Continental Reservoir nr Creede
Updated 2026-10-30· 125% of month avg
Shadow Mountain Lake
Updated 2026-10-29· 100% of month avg· D3
Paonia Reservoir
criticalUpdated 2026-10-29· 72% of month avg· D2
Crawford Reservoir
criticalUpdated 2026-10-29· 64% of month avg· D0
Cherry Creek Dam & Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-02· 85% of month avg· D2
Silver Jack Reservoir
lowUpdated 2026-10-29· 221% of month avg
Rifle Gap Reservoir
criticalUpdated 2026-10-29· 8% of month avg· D1
Mount Elbert Forebay Reservoir
lowUpdated 2026-10-29· 49% of month avg· D3
Willow Creek Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 88% of month avg· D3
Jackson Gulch Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 137% of month avg
Fruitgrowers Reservoir
criticalUpdated 2026-10-29· 200% of month avg· D0
Lake Estes
Updated 2026-10-29· 86% of month avg· D3
Pinewood Reservoir
lowUpdated 2026-10-29· 77% of month avg· D3
Bear Creek Dam & Reservoir
lowUpdated 2026-10-07· 40% of month avg· D2
Storage from official US gauges (USGS, USACE, Bureau of Reclamation, CDEC) and, in Texas, the Texas Water Development Board. Fill % uses design capacity from the National Inventory of Dams where available; Water Data for Texas lakes use that board's conservation capacity; a few sites without a match fall back to the 5-year maximum. "% of month avg" compares the current fill with the reservoir’s own average for this calendar month over its readings on record. D0–D4 is the U.S. Drought Monitor category of the ground at the reservoir’s coordinates on the latest weekly map — local conditions, not storage.
About reservoirs in Colorado
As of October 30, 2026, the reservoirs we track across Colorado that report live levels hold roughly 2,598 hm³ of water — about 45.8% of their combined capacity. Taken together, Colorado's reservoirs are within their normal operating range.
Across the region, 7 reservoirs are at critically low levels and 8 are low. Lake Nighthorse is the fullest at 93.7%, while Paonia Reservoir is the lowest at 2.1%.
Over the most recent week on record, 17 reservoirs rose and 5 reservoirs fell across Colorado.
Storage figures for Colorado come from USGS · USACE · BOR · CDEC; the most recent reading is from October 30, 2026. Each reservoir below links to its own page with full history and seasonal context.
Colorado at a glance
- Reservoirs tracked
- 40
- Average fill
- 45.8%
- Water stored
- 2,598 hm³
- Combined capacity
- 5,676 hm³
- At critically low levels
- 7
- Fullest
- Lake Nighthorse (93.7%)
- Lowest
- Paonia Reservoir (2.1%)
- Last updated
- October 30, 2026