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How far the lake sits below full, how that compares with every low stand since 1942, and what the numbers mean. Independent site, not LCRA.
676.5feet above sea level, 4.5 ft below full pool
Lake Travis is at 676.5 ft above mean sea level — 4.5 ft below the 681.0 ft conservation pool (92.6% of conservation capacity, 1,032,078 acre-feet in storage). On this site that reads as “Near Full Pool.” The lake fell 1.02 ft over the past 7 days, and fell 3.52 ft over the past 30 days. Latest Mansfield Dam reading averaged 928 cubic feet per second. This is a reservoir-level description from LCRA elevation and storage — not an official U.S. Drought Monitor category or LCRA drought stage.
Readings come from LCRA Hydromet about every 15 minutes. County drought maps live at the U.S. Drought Monitor; this page does not assign those categories.
Since Mansfield Dam closed in 1942, the lake has been pulled tens of feet below conservation pool 7 separate times. Every figure here is LCRA’s published monthly minimum — the same archive behind the homepage all-time chart — so these are monthly lows, not daily traces.
Runs of at least four months with the monthly minimum under 640 ft — the same “drought levels” line the homepage uses. A rebound of a month or two stays inside the same stand.
The deepest was 1950–1952; the longest ran 3 years 11 mo (2011–2015).
The most recent stand, December 2022 – July 2025, bottomed at 626.90 ft in October 2023 before the lake climbed back above drought-level elevations. That is a reading of monthly values, not an official drought-end date.
September 1947 – June 1948
10 months
632.86 ft
June 1948, 48.1 ft below full
November 1948 – April 1949
6 months
638.64 ft
December 1948, 42.4 ft below full
August 1950 – September 1952
2 years 2 mo
614.18 ft
August 1951, 66.8 ft below full
July 1963 – November 1964
1 year 5 mo
615.02 ft
November 1963, 66.0 ft below full
July–October 2009
4 months
629.74 ft
October 2009, 51.3 ft below full
July 2011 – May 2015
3 years 11 mo
618.56 ft
September 2013, 62.4 ft below full
December 2022 – July 2025
2 years 8 mo
626.90 ft
October 2023, 54.1 ft below full
Source: LCRA Lake Travis historical workbook, elevations on LCRA’s legacy dam datum. Daily readings can sit slightly inside a month’s published min/max band.
681 ft
Conservation pool
“Full.” The elevation LCRA aims to hold for water supply, recreation and downstream needs. Above it the lake is in its flood pool and Mansfield Dam’s gates can open. Percent full is storage against roughly 1.13 million acre-feet of conservation capacity — volume, not visible shoreline.
650 ft
Low water
Most public boat ramps get difficult below this. Ramps, beaches and marina docks all move with the swing — the boating guide colour-codes every ramp against the live level.
640 ft
Drought levels
Below this the site says “Drought Levels,” matching the homepage. It is a local reading aid — not D0–D4 on the U.S. Drought Monitor and not an LCRA drought stage, which are set by the Water Management Plan using combined Buchanan–Travis storage.
Travis is a water-supply reservoir, not a constant-level lake. It falls when evaporation, municipal and agricultural use, environmental flows and dam releases outrun inflow from the Colorado River and the upstream Highland Lakes. A dry Hill Country summer takes inches a week; one well-placed flood can put back tens of feet in days.
The Lower Colorado River Authority operates Mansfield Dam and the Highland Lakes chain. Buchanan and Travis are its two water-supply reservoirs. Official drought stages, firm-customer cutbacks and watering rules come from LCRA and local utilities, not from labels on this page.
Live elevation, storage and temperature.
Monthly average, minimum and maximum since October 1942.
Official weekly drought intensity for Texas counties — linked, not copied.
Statewide reservoir conditions.
Lake Travis Water Level is an independent site. It is not affiliated with the Lower Colorado River Authority, the U.S. Drought Monitor, NOAA, USGS, or any city or utility. Reservoir labels here are unofficial. For watering restrictions, water-supply operations and flood releases, use lcra.org. Data may be delayed or imprecise; confirm critical decisions with official sources.