Burnsville Lake Water Level
Burnsville Lake is at 789.34 ft today (Oct 31), 0.34 ft above its 789 ft full pool, up 0.02 ft this week.
West Virginia · Little Kanawha River
Full pool is the summer level. Burnsville Lake is drawn down about 13 ft to roughly 776 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 Burnsville Lake
Burnsville Lake is a reservoir on the Little Kanawha River in West Virginia, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 789 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Burnsville Lake's water level
Burnsville Lake sits on the Little Kanawha River in Braxton County, about three miles upstream of the town of Burnsville and roughly 124 river miles above the Little Kanawha's mouth on the Ohio at Parkersburg. Congress first authorized it in the Flood Control Act of 1938, but construction did not begin until 1972. Sources disagree on when it came online: the Huntington District, which runs it, dated the dam's 50th anniversary to January 1976, while other accounts put it in service in late 1976 or December 1978. The dam is a rock-fill embankment 1,400 feet long, with a gated spillway in the left abutment and its top at 839 feet. It controls 165 square miles of drainage. That is a small basin, which is why this lake moves less than its neighbor Sutton Lake. The Corps has credited the project with preventing an estimated $325.3 million in flood damages downstream.
The level follows a simple two-step guide curve. Summer pool is 789 feet, held from April through October, when the lake covers about 968 acres with some 30 miles of shoreline. In early November the Corps begins lowering the lake 13 feet to make room for winter and spring runoff, and it holds winter pool at 776 feet through March. At that level the surface shrinks to about 550 acres. Sutton, with its larger drainage, drops 27 to 30 feet each winter by comparison. Anything above roughly 787.4 feet sits in the flood control pool, which tops out at 825 feet. The largest flood since the dam opened came on August 1, 1996, when the lake rose more than 20 feet above summer pool and still used only about half its flood storage. The Corps lists the pool of record at 809.89 feet. During dry spells the dam keeps at least 20 cubic feet per second flowing downstream.
The upper end of the lake reaches Bulltown, where a short skirmish on October 13, 1863 ended in a Union victory. The fighting centered on a fort and the covered bridge that carried the Weston and Gauley Bridge Turnpike across the Little Kanawha. Trenches from the fort and traces of the turnpike survive. When the reservoir was built, the Corps took apart and rebuilt mid-1800s log buildings that the water would have covered, and they now stand in the Bulltown Historic Area with the Cunningham House. The surrounding 12,579 acres are the Burnsville Lake Wildlife Management Area, owned by the Corps and managed by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. The DNR lists muskellunge, walleye, crappie, three species of black bass, and channel and flathead catfish in the lake, plus trout stocked seasonally in the tailwater. On April 30, 2021, Chase Gibson landed a 54-inch muskie here and released it. That fish set the state length record, and a DNR biologist credited years of fish habitat work in the lake.
Burnsville Lake — frequently asked
What is Burnsville Lake's full pool?
Summer pool is 789 feet above sea level, which puts about 968 surface acres of water behind the dam. The Corps holds the lake there from April through October. That is the recreation level, not the top of the reservoir. The flood control pool goes up to 825 feet, and the top of the dam is at 839 feet, leaving a lot of room above normal summer water.
When is Burnsville Lake drawn down for winter?
The Corps starts lowering the lake in early November and keeps going until it reaches winter pool at 776 feet, 13 feet below summer pool. The lake stays near 776 through March, covering about 550 acres. That cut is small for the area. Sutton Lake, next door, drops 27 to 30 feet each winter because its drainage basin is larger.
When does Burnsville Lake fill back up in spring?
The lake goes back up to summer pool at 789 feet in spring, and the Corps maintains that level from April through October. The 13 foot rise comes from spring runoff off a 165 square mile watershed, so a dry spring can slow the fill. A wet spring can push the lake above 789 for a while, because the Corps stores floodwater and releases it once the river downstream can take it.
What is the highest Burnsville Lake has ever been?
The Corps lists the pool of record at 809.89 feet, almost 21 feet above summer pool. The biggest flood since the dam opened came on August 1, 1996, when the lake rose more than 20 feet above summer pool. Even so, it used only about half of its flood storage, with the reservoir holding roughly 52 percent of its capacity at the peak. The gauge panel on this page shows a recent high from the Corps' last few years of data, not the pool of record, which is why its figure is lower.
Why is Burnsville Lake higher than normal?
The lake's main job is flood control on the Little Kanawha. After heavy rain the Corps holds water back so towns downstream like Burnsville, Glenville, Grantsville and Elizabeth get less of it at once. Water stored this way sits in the flood pool, which starts just below summer pool and runs up to 825 feet. The Corps lets it out once river levels below the dam have fallen.
Is Burnsville Lake good for muskie fishing?
It has produced the state's longest muskie. On April 30, 2021, Chase Gibson caught and released a fish measuring just over 54 inches and weighing 39.64 pounds, breaking the 53.5 inch length record set in 2017. The weight record is still a 49.75 pound fish from Stonecoal Lake. A DNR biologist who helped measure Gibson's fish credited years of work adding fish-holding structure to the lake.
What is the Bulltown Historic Area at Burnsville Lake?
Bulltown sits at the upper end of the lake, where a short Civil War skirmish on October 13, 1863 ended in a Union victory. The fighting centered on a fort and a covered bridge carrying the Weston and Gauley Bridge Turnpike. You can still see the fort's trenches and pieces of the turnpike. When the reservoir was built, the Corps moved log buildings from the 1800s out of the flood zone and rebuilt them here, near the Cunningham House.
Other lakes near Burnsville Lake
- East Lynn LakeWV
- Bluestone LakeWV
- R.D. Bailey LakeWV
- Beech Fork LakeWV
- Summersville LakeWV
- Sutton LakeWV
See current levels for all 7 West Virginia lakes and reservoirs →
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