Alum Creek Lake Water Level
Alum Creek Lake is at 886.72 ft today (Oct 31), 1.28 ft below its 888 ft full pool, down 0.52 ft this week.
Ohio · Alum Creek
Full pool is the summer level. Alum Creek Lake is drawn down about 3 ft to roughly 885 ft over winter for flood storage, so a lower reading outside the summer season is usually scheduled rather than drought.
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Water level history
About Alum Creek Lake
Alum Creek Lake is a reservoir on the Alum Creek in Ohio, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 888 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Alum Creek Lake's water level
Alum Creek Lake sits in southern Delaware County about 22 miles north of Columbus, held back by a rolled earthfill dam 93 feet tall and 10,200 feet long. Congress authorized it in the Flood Control Act of 1962, the Huntington District of the Corps of Engineers broke ground in 1970, and the dam was finished in August 1974, with the lake reaching summer pool for the first time in 1975. It drains 123 square miles of Morrow and Delaware counties and feeds Alum Creek, which runs through Westerville and Columbus to Big Walnut Creek and then the Scioto. Filling the valley meant families left their farms and the small towns of Constantia and Africa, and workers moved more than 1,800 graves from old cemeteries. Africa, which ODNR places below the dam, was a free Black settlement and a known stop on the Underground Railroad route called the Sycamore Trail, which followed the creek. A three-quarter-mile Heritage of Freedom Trail near the Galena ramp opened in November 2024 to tell that story.
The Corps holds the lake at 888 feet in summer and 885 feet in winter, so the normal seasonal swing is only three feet. Floodwater from the headwaters is held above that level and let out through a 118 foot gated spillway with three tainter gates, each 34 by 25 feet, or through a 60 inch low flow conduit, timed against downstream gauges on Alum Creek in Columbus, at Rees on Big Walnut, and on the Scioto at Circleville, Chillicothe and Higby. The district begins watching the lake closely at 892 feet. The same reservoir is also a drinking water source. A 60 inch water supply pipe runs to pumping facilities below the dam, Del-Co Water shares the lake as a supply reservoir, and Columbus holds rights to draw on it to back up Hoover Reservoir in drought, though the city neither owns nor operates it. The project's cooperating association credits it with preventing more than $286 million in flood damages through fiscal 2022.
For people on the water, a few feet matter. The Corps publishes the elevations where facilities stop working. On the low side, Howard ramp closes below 882, the campground ramp below 873, and the Cheshire, New Galena and Marina ramps below 865. The main state park beach, which ODNR lists at 3,000 feet as the largest inland beach in the Ohio state park system, closes below 878 when the water sits 300 feet from the guard towers, and the campground beach closes below 883. High water shuts things down faster: the main beach closes above 891, North Camp and Hogback roads above 895, the marina becomes unusable above 896, the New Galena, Hollenback and Cheshire ramps close above 896.5, and marina buildings begin to flood at 898. The southern lake allows unlimited horsepower while the north end is no wake. ODNR stocks muskie every year and saugeye as well, and describes the smallmouth bass fishing as some of the best in the state.
Alum Creek Lake — frequently asked
What is Alum Creek Lake's full pool?
Summer pool is 888 feet above sea level, which at that level covers about 3,387 acres according to the Corps and ODNR. Winter pool is 885 feet. The top of the dam is at 913 feet, so there is roughly 25 feet of room above summer pool for storing floodwater, and the Corps begins surveillance of the lake when it reaches 892 feet.
What is the record high level at Alum Creek Lake?
898.94 feet on 16 January 2005, almost eleven feet above summer pool. It came after five to eight inches of rain fell over central Indiana and Ohio between 4 and 14 January 2005. At that height the Corps' own impact list shows the marina unusable, the main boat ramps closed and marina buildings starting to take on water, which begins at 898 feet. The Recent high in the gauge panel on this page covers only the last few years of readings, which is why it shows a lower figure.
Does Alum Creek Lake have a winter drawdown?
Yes, but a small one. The Corps holds a winter pool of 885 feet against a summer pool of 888, a difference of three feet. The Huntington District applies its winter release controls from December 1 through April 14 and its summer controls from April 15 through November 30. Normal readings in the dead of winter therefore sit about three feet below the summer mark.
At what lake level do the boat ramps close?
It depends on the ramp. On the low end, Howard ramp closes below 882 feet, the campground ramp below 873, and the Cheshire, New Galena and Marina ramps below 865, so the deep ramps stay open well past normal winter pool. On the high end, the New Galena, Hollenback and Cheshire ramps close above 896.5 feet, and the marina is unusable above 896.
When is the Alum Creek beach closed because of the water level?
The main state park beach closes if the lake drops below 878 feet, when the water line sits about 300 feet from the guard towers, and it closes again if the lake rises above 891 feet and floods the sand. The smaller campground beach closes below 883 feet. At the normal summer pool of 888 both beaches are in range.
Who uses Alum Creek Lake for drinking water?
Del-Co Water and the City of Columbus both rely on it. A 60 inch water supply pipe carries water from the dam to downstream pumping facilities. Columbus does not own or operate the reservoir but holds rights to draw from it to supplement Hoover Reservoir during drought. Water supply for the Columbus area is one of the project's authorized purposes, along with flood risk reduction, fish and wildlife, and recreation.
What towns were flooded by Alum Creek Lake?
ODNR says the dam project forced families off their farms and out of the valley towns of Constantia and Africa, and that workers moved more than 1,800 graves from historic cemeteries. Africa was a free Black community that sheltered freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad, and the Aaron L. Benedict house, a former station, is the only known station building still standing.
Other lakes near Alum Creek Lake
- Atwood LakeOH
- Wills Creek LakeOH
- Beach City LakeOH
- Tom Jenkins Lake (Burr Oak)OH
- Charles Mill LakeOH
- Tappan LakeOH
See current levels for all 16 Ohio lakes and reservoirs →
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