Demopolis Lake Water Level
Demopolis Lake is at 73.44 ft today (Oct 31), 2.56 ft below its 76 ft full pool, down 0.06 ft this week.
Alabama · Tombigbee & Black Warrior Rivers
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Water level history
About Demopolis Lake
Demopolis Lake is a reservoir on the Tombigbee & Black Warrior Rivers in Alabama, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 76 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Demopolis Lake's water level
Demopolis Lake has no floodgates to work. The dam's spillway is a fixed concrete crest, 1,485 feet long, with a 590-foot section across the main channel and an 895-foot overbank section, both topped at 73 feet above sea level. Whatever the Tombigbee and Black Warrior send down simply pours over the crest, so the Corps of Engineers does not draw the lake down in winter or fill it in spring the way it does at storage reservoirs. At low flow the pool sits right at the crest, about 73.3 to 73.5 feet; as inflow rises the pool climbs, and the normal working range runs from 73 to 76 feet. The Mobile District built the project between 1949 and 1955, and its purposes are navigation and recreation. The Corps' own dam safety summary says it is not designed or operated for flood control and passes high water as fast as it arrives.
The lake begins at the confluence of the Black Warrior and the Tombigbee at Demopolis, a town founded in 1817 on a chalk cliff called White Bluff by French exiles of the Vine and Olive Colony. From there the pool reaches 48 miles up the Black Warrior to Warrior Dam near Eutaw and 53 miles up the Tombigbee to Gainesville, covering about 10,000 acres at the 73-foot crest. The lock and dam stand at river mile 213.2 on the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway, with a 110 by 600 foot chamber and a lift of about 40 feet down to the Coffeeville pool. Barges coming down the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway to Mobile all pass through this one chamber. When its upper miter sill broke on 16 January 2024, towboats had to detour by way of the Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi rivers until the lock reopened on 16 May 2024, four months to the day after the failure.
Because the dam cannot hold water back, a big flood on either river shows up directly on the lake gauge. The pool rose to 86.94 feet in February 2020, after near-record rain across Alabama, which is the highest reading in the Corps' gauge record since 2013. That is nearly three feet over the 84-foot top of the dam and well past the 83-foot level at which the lock stops operating. A year earlier, in early March 2019, the pool hit 85.17 feet. The National Weather Service gauge on the river side of the dam has older crests that were higher still: 92.3 feet on 19 April 1979 and 91.7 feet on 28 February 1961. On that gauge, flooding begins at 68 feet, cabins and trailers along the river start to flood at 73, and at 88 feet the water reaches industrial and residential property just upstream of the dam.
Demopolis Lake — frequently asked
What is Demopolis Lake's normal pool level?
The spillway crest is at 73 feet above sea level, and the pool normally runs between 73 and 76 feet depending on how much water the two rivers are carrying. In dry weather it settles just above the crest, typically about 73.3 to 73.5 feet. Since 2013 the median reading has been around 74.5 to 75.3 feet, and the level is lowest in late summer and fall.
Why does Demopolis Lake rise so quickly after heavy rain?
The dam has no gates. Its spillway is a fixed ogee crest, so the Corps cannot store a flood or release it slowly. Every rise on the Tombigbee above Gainesville and on the Black Warrior below Warrior Dam passes straight through Demopolis. The lake goes up when inflow increases and comes back down toward 73 feet as the rivers fall. The drainage area above the dam is 15,385 square miles.
Does the Corps draw down Demopolis Lake in winter?
No. Demopolis is a navigation pool with no seasonal guide curve. The crest holds the lake at about 73 feet, which keeps the waterway's nine-foot navigation channel open, and everything above the crest flows over the spillway. The lake is usually highest in winter and spring because those are the wet months, not because the Corps is filling it.
What is the highest Demopolis Lake has ever been?
The highest pool reading in the Corps' gauge record since 2013 is 86.94 feet, in mid-February 2020. That was nearly three feet over the 84-foot top of the dam and almost fourteen feet above the crest. The National Weather Service's longer record at its gauge on the river side of the dam peaks at 92.3 feet on 19 April 1979, with 91.7 feet on 28 February 1961 in second place.
When does the Demopolis lock close because of high water?
The lock stops operating once the upper pool reaches 83 feet. The lock walls top out at 84 feet. The pool has passed 83 feet at least twice in recent years, in March 2019 and February 2020. Separately, the lock was closed from 16 January to 16 May 2024 after a large piece of the upper miter sill broke off. Dive teams estimated that piece at about 500 tons.
What is the fishing like on Demopolis Lake?
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources says the lake is best known for largemouth bass and also lists crappie, hybrid striped bass and bream. In summer, bream hold in creeks with woody cover and around weed beds. The tailwaters at the head of the lake are productive too. Below Warrior Dam, local boat anglers catch hybrids and catfish, and the water below Gainesville Dam draws anglers from both Alabama and Mississippi.
Where can I launch or camp on Demopolis Lake?
Foscue Creek, a Black Warrior and Tombigbee Lakes park just south of where the two rivers meet, has 54 campsites, a boat ramp, four group shelters and a nature trail. To get there, drive about three miles west of Demopolis on U.S. 80, turn on Maria Street and follow the signs to 1800 Lock and Dam Road. The gates are locked from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Other lakes near Demopolis Lake
- Lake GuntersvilleAL
- Dannelly Reservoir (Millers Ferry)AL
- Lake Harding (Bartletts Ferry)GA/AL
- Bankhead LakeAL
- Holt LakeAL
- Woodruff Lake (Robert F. Henry)AL
See current levels for all 21 Alabama lakes and reservoirs →
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