State · United States · USGS · BOR · USACE · CDEC
South Dakota
74% average fill
Measured
14
Volume stored
23,896 hm³
Measured capacity
32,291 hm³
Low level
2
Below month average
12 of 14
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Drought Monitor · 27 October 2026
Weekly map · area in each categoryDrought status
52.1%
of the area in drought (D1 or worse)
Worst category: D2 severe drought
down 9.2 points on the week
Severe or worse (D2+)
9.0%
Extreme or worse (D3+)
0.3%
DSCI
1460–500
People in drought
401,000
Reservoirs (reservoirs.earth)
74.0% full14 tracked
Reservoirs on drought ground
10 of 14
As of the 27 October 2026 U.S. Drought Monitor map, 52.1% of South Dakota was in drought (D1 or worse), with 0.3% in extreme or exceptional drought (D3–D4). The 14 reservoirs we track in South Dakota were 74.0% full on their latest readings. 10 of 14 tracked reservoir sites sit inside the drought area.
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 capacityOahe Dam & Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 92% of month avg
Fort Randall Dam & Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 81% of month avg· D0
Big Bend Dam & Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 100% of month avg
Gavins Point Dam & Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 103% of month avg· D0
Belle Fourche Reservoir
lowUpdated 2026-10-30· 63% of month avg· D1
Belle Fourche Reservoir
lowUpdated 2026-10-29· 62% of month avg· D1
Shadehill Dam & Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-30· 93% of month avg· D1
Shadehill Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 93% of month avg· D1
Angostura Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-30· 89% of month avg· D1
Angostura Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 89% of month avg· D1
Pactola Dam & Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-30· 83% of month avg· D1
Pactola Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 83% of month avg· D1
Deerfield Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-30· 89% of month avg· D1
Deerfield Reservoir
Updated 2026-10-29· 89% 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.
About reservoirs in South Dakota
As of October 30, 2026, the reservoirs we track across South Dakota that report live levels hold roughly 23,896 hm³ of water — about 74.0% of their combined capacity. Taken together, South Dakota's reservoirs are within their normal operating range.
Across the region, 2 are low. Gavins Point Dam & Reservoir is the fullest at 100.5%, while Belle Fourche Reservoir is the lowest at 32.7%.
Over the most recent week on record, 1 reservoir rose and 3 reservoirs fell across South Dakota.
Storage figures for South 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.
South Dakota at a glance
- Reservoirs tracked
- 14
- Average fill
- 74.0%
- Water stored
- 23,896 hm³
- Combined capacity
- 32,291 hm³
- Fullest
- Gavins Point Dam & Reservoir (100.5%)
- Lowest
- Belle Fourche Reservoir (32.7%)
- Last updated
- October 30, 2026