Bluestone Lake Water Level
Bluestone Lake is at 1,410.75 ft today (Oct 31), 0.75 ft above its 1,410 ft full pool, up 0.20 ft this week.
West Virginia · New River
Full pool is the summer level. Bluestone Lake is drawn down about 4 ft to roughly 1406 ft over winter for flood storage, so a lower reading outside the summer season is usually scheduled rather than drought.
Get a text when Bluestone Lake crosses a level you pick →
Sponsor Bluestone Lake
Put your marina, real-estate, or local business in front of everyone checking this lake's level. One exclusive sponsor per lake.
Renews automatically each month or year until you cancel. Cancel anytime online. Terms · Manage or cancel · Questions?
Water level history
About Bluestone Lake
Bluestone Lake is a reservoir on the New River in West Virginia, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 1410 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Bluestone Lake's water level
Bluestone Dam sits on the New River just above Hinton, about a mile upstream of where the Greenbrier comes in, and its job is to keep the New from flooding the Kanawha valley. The Corps of Engineers' Huntington District lists ten downstream communities it was built to protect, from Hinton and Thurmond through Montgomery, Charleston, St. Albans and Winfield to Point Pleasant on the Ohio. Above it lies a 4,565 square mile drainage reaching back through southwest Virginia into North Carolina. Most of the year the lake is kept small, about 2,040 acres at a summer pool of 1,410 feet, holding roughly 38,000 acre-feet. The flood pool runs to 1,520 feet, 110 feet higher, and full it stores about 631,000 acre-feet. That empty space is the point of the project. The dam was planned with six penstocks for hydropower, but they were sealed with bulkheads and the generators never installed, so Bluestone does not peak for power and the level stays flat until a storm arrives.
Hurricane Helene showed what that space is for. Peak inflow topped 170,000 cubic feet per second on Saturday, 28 September 2024, and the lake climbed more than 80 feet in under a week, cresting near 1,494 feet on 29 September. The Corps rated it the third highest pool in the dam's history and credited the project with preventing $577 million in damage; no flooding was reported in Hinton. The release afterward held a little over 26,000 cubic feet per second through the sluice gates, and by 17 October the lake was back at summer pool, faster than the Corps expected. The cost was upstream: the Bluestone Bridge launch, the state park campground and the WMA's Indian Creek campground went under, and about 60 acres of debris, from logs to refrigerators and propane tanks, piled up behind the dam. The record remains 1,506.04 feet, set on 6 April 1960.
The dam itself has been under repair for a quarter century. A 1998 Corps evaluation found that a dam designed around a 1916 hurricane that dropped 13 inches of rain in a day could not safely handle a modern worst case near 20 inches, and the fixes it recommended included an eight foot raise. Four phases since 2000 added an auxiliary spillway and more than 400 steel anchors drilled into bedrock. The current phase, begun in 2020 and scheduled to finish around 2029 or 2030, rebuilds the stilling basin with ten feet of reinforced concrete, stainless steel baffle blocks and anchors as deep as 220 feet, for a total program near $965 million. While that work goes on, routine outflow is cut by more than half, so the lake backs up whenever inflow passes about 10,000 cubic feet per second. WV DNR warns that launches, roads and campgrounds in the 18,000 acre Bluestone WMA will flood more often and for longer until the work is done.
Bluestone Lake — frequently asked
What is Bluestone Lake's full pool?
Summer pool is 1,410 feet, when the lake covers about 2,040 acres. That is the normal pool, not the top of the reservoir: flood storage runs up to 1,520 feet and the top of the dam is 1,535 feet. Bluestone exists mainly to hold floodwater, so a reading well above 1,410 usually means the Corps is storing a storm and will release it as the rivers downstream allow.
What is the record high at Bluestone Lake?
1,506.04 feet on 6 April 1960, about 96 feet above summer pool. Hurricane Helene came closest in recent memory, cresting near 1,494 feet on 29 September 2024, which the Corps ranks third highest in the dam's history. Even the 1960 record stayed 14 feet below the top of the flood pool at 1,520 feet.
When does Bluestone Lake go to winter pool?
The Corps begins drawing the lake down on 1 December to a winter pool about four feet below summer level, around 1,406 feet. Winter pool also helps with debris: after Helene, the lake manager said a lower pool would let crews clear the drift behind the dam in roughly two weeks, far quicker than at summer level.
Why is Bluestone Lake so high and muddy after rain?
The lake drains 4,565 square miles of the New River basin, so heavy rain in Virginia or North Carolina reaches it even when Hinton stays dry. During the ongoing dam safety construction, routine outflow is limited to less than half its normal rate, so the pool climbs whenever inflow tops about 10,000 cubic feet per second and can stay up for days or weeks while the Corps drains it.
How long did it take Bluestone Lake to drop after Hurricane Helene?
About two and a half weeks. The lake crested near 1,494 feet on 29 September 2024 while the Corps released a bit over 26,000 cubic feet per second without opening the crest gates. Officials first expected it to stay high for several weeks, but on 17 October the resource manager reported it back at summer pool, a little over 1,410 feet.
What is the Bluestone Dam safety project?
A Corps program, under way since 2000 and budgeted near $965 million, to make the 1949 dam safe against a far larger flood than its designers planned for. Earlier phases built an auxiliary spillway and drilled more than 400 steel anchors into bedrock. The final phase rebuilds the stilling basin below the spillway, where a 2013 risk assessment found scour could threaten the dam, with completion expected about 2029.
What fish are in Bluestone Lake?
WV DNR lists largemouth, smallmouth, white and rock bass, striped bass, muskellunge, walleye, crappie, channel catfish and trout in the Bluestone WMA waters. Walleye between 20 and 30 inches must be released immediately. There is no horsepower limit on the lake; the main WMA launch is at the Pit area off Route 20, with smaller launches at Bertha, Bull Falls and Bluestone State Park.
Other lakes near Bluestone Lake
- Burnsville LakeWV
- Beech Fork LakeWV
- East Lynn LakeWV
- Sutton LakeWV
- R.D. Bailey LakeWV
- Summersville LakeWV
See current levels for all 7 West Virginia lakes and reservoirs →
Add this gauge to your website
Run a marina, boat rental, guide service, or real-estate site on Bluestone Lake? Put this free live-level widget on your page — just copy and paste the code: