State · United States · USGS · BOR · USACE · CDEC
North Dakota
74.5% average fill
Measured
10
Data pending
2
Volume stored
17,886 hm³
Measured capacity
23,995 hm³
Low level
3
Below month average
6 of 10
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Drought Monitor · 27 October 2026
Weekly map · area in each categoryDrought status
52.5%
of the area in drought (D1 or worse)
Worst category: D3 extreme drought
unchanged on the week
Severe or worse (D2+)
31.0%
Extreme or worse (D3+)
6.4%
DSCI
1610–500
People in drought
407,000
Reservoirs (reservoirs.earth)
74.5% full10 tracked
Reservoirs on drought ground
10 of 122 in D2 or worse
As of the 27 October 2026 U.S. Drought Monitor map, 52.5% of North Dakota was in drought (D1 or worse), with 6.4% in extreme or exceptional drought (D3–D4). The 10 reservoirs we track in North Dakota were 74.5% full on their latest readings. 10 of 12 tracked reservoir sites sit inside the drought area, 2 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 capacityGarrison Dam & Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 83% of month avg· D1
Audubon Lake North Dakota
Updated 2026-10-29· 103% of month avg· D1
Heart Butte Dam & Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-30· 85% of month avg· D1
Lake Tschida
Updated 2026-10-29· 85% of month avg· D1
Lake Darling Dam
Updated 2026-10-30· 100% of month avg
Jamestown Dam & Reservoir
lowUpdated 2026-10-30· 96% of month avg· D1
Jamestown Dam and Reservoir
lowUpdated 2026-10-29· 96% of month avg· D1
Pipestem Dam & Reservoir
lowUpdated 2026-10-02· 128% of month avg· D1
Bowman-Haley Dam & Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-06· 117% of month avg· D2
Dickinson Dam on the Heart R
Updated 2026-10-30· 86% 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
2 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: Lake Ashtabula (0.1 km³), Homme Dam (0.0 km³).
About reservoirs in North Dakota
As of October 30, 2026, the reservoirs we track across North Dakota that report live levels hold roughly 17,886 hm³ of water — about 74.5% of their combined capacity. Taken together, North Dakota's reservoirs are within their normal operating range.
Across the region, 3 are low. Lake Darling Dam is the fullest at 95.6%, while Jamestown Dam & Reservoir is the lowest at 25.0%.
Over the most recent week on record, 1 reservoir rose across North Dakota.
Storage figures for North Dakota 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.
North Dakota at a glance
- Reservoirs tracked
- 10
- Average fill
- 74.5%
- Water stored
- 17,886 hm³
- Combined capacity
- 23,995 hm³
- Fullest
- Lake Darling Dam (95.6%)
- Lowest
- Jamestown Dam & Reservoir (25.0%)
- Last updated
- October 30, 2026