El Dorado Lake Water Level
Kansas · Walnut River
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Water level history
About El Dorado Lake
El Dorado Lake is a reservoir on the Walnut River in Kansas, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It's bordered by the largest state park in Kansas. Its full summer pool sits at 1339 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding El Dorado Lake's water level
El Dorado Lake is unusual in Kansas for a reason that has nothing to do with its size: the water in it belongs to a city. El Dorado is the only city in the state that contracts directly with the Corps of Engineers for its raw water supply, and it holds sole ownership of the water it uses. Every other large Corps reservoir in Kansas holds state-owned marketing storage administered by the Kansas Water Office. That arrangement is why the city sells roughly half a billion gallons of treated water and two billion gallons of untreated water a year to other communities and utilities, and has done for over twenty years.
The lake was finished in 1981 on the Walnut River, and building it drowned two smaller predecessors: the older El Dorado city lake, and Bluestem Lake, whose breached dam is still visible on the Shady Creek arm. The town of Chelsea, settled in 1857, lies under the water too. The spillway is uncontrolled with a crest at 1,353 feet, conservation pool is 1,339, and the top of the flood pool is 1,347.5, giving the lake only eight and a half feet of gated working range.
It is also the steadiest lake in this part of Kansas. Since 1995 it has been at or within three feet of full about eighty-nine percent of the time, helped by a comparatively small 234-square-mile drainage feeding a deep pool. The record is 1,348.92 feet on 26 May 2019, just above the top of the flood pool; the flood of record by discharge was June 1979 at 41,200 cubic feet per second. The 2023 drought pulled it to 1,332.29 feet in late October, which is low for this lake but modest against what Toronto or Elk City did the same autumn. El Dorado State Park, wrapped around the shoreline, is the largest state park in Kansas.
El Dorado Lake — frequently asked
What is El Dorado Lake's full pool elevation?
The top of the conservation pool is 1,339 feet above sea level. The top of the flood-control pool is 1,347.5 feet, the uncontrolled spillway crest is 1,353, and the top of the dam is 1,370.5. The gated working range is only eight and a half feet, above which the lake spills over the weir on its own.
Who owns the water in El Dorado Lake?
The City of El Dorado, which is the only city in Kansas that contracts directly with the Corps of Engineers for its raw water supply and holds sole ownership of the water for public supply. Every other large Corps reservoir in the state carries state-owned marketing storage administered by the Kansas Water Office. El Dorado sells around half a billion gallons of treated and two billion gallons of untreated water a year to other communities.
Does El Dorado Lake stay full?
More reliably than most Kansas reservoirs. Since 1995 the lake has been at full pool or within three feet of it roughly eighty-nine percent of the time. It has a comparatively small 234-square-mile drainage area feeding a deep pool, so it neither fills nor empties as violently as the shallower Verdigris-basin lakes to the east.
What are El Dorado Lake's record levels?
The record high is 1,348.92 feet on 26 May 2019, just above the top of the flood-control pool, with a peak inflow of 26,100 cubic feet per second. The flood of record by discharge was June 1979 at 41,200 cubic feet per second. The lowest reading in the modern digital record is 1,332.29 feet on 23 October 2023.
What was flooded to build El Dorado Lake?
Two smaller reservoirs and a town. Construction inundated the older El Dorado city lake, and Bluestem Lake's dam was breached, with remnants still visible on the Shady Creek arm. The settlement of Chelsea in Butler County, established in 1857, lies beneath the lake.
What is at El Dorado State Park?
It is the largest state park in Kansas, roughly 2,000 acres of park with about 4,000 acres of wildlife area around 8,000 acres of water and 98 miles of shoreline. It is organised into four areas: Bluestem Point, Shady Creek, Walnut River and Boulder Bluff, with close to 900 campsites between them and ten modern cabins. There are seven trails from half a mile to twelve miles, used for walking, mountain biking and horseback riding.
Other lakes near El Dorado Lake
- Elk City LakeKS
- Council Grove LakeKS
- Fall River LakeKS
- Clinton LakeKS
- John Redmond ReservoirKS
- Cheney ReservoirKS
See current levels for all 12 Kansas lakes and reservoirs →
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