State · United States · USGS · BOR · USACE · CDEC
Minnesota
62.8% average fill
Measured
9
Data pending
4
Volume stored
3,370 hm³
Measured capacity
5,364 hm³
Critical
1
Below month average
5 of 9
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Drought Monitor · 13 October 2026
Weekly map · area in each categoryDrought status
62.6%
of the area in drought (D1 or worse)
Worst category: D3 extreme drought
unchanged on the week
Severe or worse (D2+)
27.0%
Extreme or worse (D3+)
2.5%
DSCI
1720–500
People in drought
4.2 million
Reservoirs (reservoirs.earth)
62.8% full9 tracked
Reservoirs on drought ground
12 of 139 in D2 or worse
As of the 13 October 2026 U.S. Drought Monitor map, 62.6% of Minnesota was in drought (D1 or worse), with 2.5% in extreme or exceptional drought (D3–D4). The 9 reservoirs we track in Minnesota were 62.8% full on their latest readings. 12 of 13 tracked reservoir sites sit inside the drought area, 9 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 capacityRed Lake Dam
Updated 2026-10-15· 87% of month avg· D0
Lake Winnibigoshish Dam
Updated 2026-10-15· 104% of month avg· D2
Pokegama Lake Dam
Updated 2026-10-15· 103% of month avg· D2
Big Sandy Lake Dam
Updated 2026-10-15· 100% of month avg· D2
Lake Traverse
Updated 2026-10-15· 83% of month avg· D1
Gull Lake Dam
Updated 2026-10-15· 99% of month avg· D2
Lac qui Parle Dam
Updated 2026-10-15· 90% of month avg· D1
Highway 75 Dam
criticalUpdated 2026-10-15· 67% of month avg· D2
Orwell Dam
Updated 2026-10-15· 100% of month avg· D1
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.
Major reservoirs — data pending
4 major reservoirs — data sourcing in progress
Storage is monitored by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE CWMS), but the live feed is currently stale — we are working to restore it. Known capacities: Marsh Lake Dam (0.0 km³), Leech Lake Dam (0.6 km³), Cross Lake (0.1 km³), Mud Lake Reservoir (0.0 km³).
About reservoirs in Minnesota
As of October 15, 2026, the reservoirs we track across Minnesota that report live levels hold roughly 3,370 hm³ of water — about 62.8% of their combined capacity. Taken together, Minnesota's reservoirs are within their normal operating range.
Across the region, 1 reservoir is at critically low levels. Orwell Dam is the fullest at 105.0%, while Highway 75 Dam is the lowest at 6.2%.
Storage figures for Minnesota come from USGS · USACE · BOR · CDEC; the most recent reading is from October 15, 2026. Each reservoir below links to its own page with full history and seasonal context.
Minnesota at a glance
- Reservoirs tracked
- 9
- Average fill
- 62.8%
- Water stored
- 3,370 hm³
- Combined capacity
- 5,364 hm³
- At critically low levels
- 1
- Fullest
- Orwell Dam (105.0%)
- Lowest
- Highway 75 Dam (6.2%)
- Last updated
- October 15, 2026