Gull Lake Water Level
Gull Lake is at 1,193.83 ft today (Oct 31), 0.32 ft below its 1,194.15 ft full pool, up 0.06 ft this week.
Minnesota · Gull River
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Water level history
About Gull Lake
Gull Lake is a reservoir on the Gull River in Minnesota, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 1194.15 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Gull Lake's water level
Gull Lake was the last of the six Mississippi Headwaters reservoirs the Corps of Engineers built between 1881 and 1912. Congress authorized the dam in 1907 and it was finished in 1912 on the Gull River, about half a mile below the lake's outlet in Cass County, northwest of Brainerd. Unlike the older Headwaters dams it never had a timber predecessor; it went in as reinforced concrete on timber pilings, designed by Colonel Francis R. Shunk and George Freeman, with five sluiceways, a log sluice and a fishway that was later closed. The dam raised the lake roughly five feet. Like the rest of the system it was built to store water and release it to the Mississippi downstream, and after the nine foot navigation channel came along in the late 1930s the reservoirs were turned toward flood control. Today the Corps runs Gull primarily for recreation, flood control and fish and wildlife, controlling runoff from 287 square miles and the ten lakes of the Gull Lake Chain.
That mission is why the level barely moves. The Corps' operating limits span just two feet, from a minimum of 1,192.75 feet to a maximum of 1,194.75. Normal summer pool is 1,194.00 feet, and the goal is to have the lake inside a summer band of 1,193.85 to 1,194.15 feet by the mid May fishing opener and hold it there through the season. In fall the gates open for a winter drawdown toward 1,192.75 feet, making room for snowmelt. Snow is measured through the winter, with basin wide surveys in late February and early March, and the Corps settles the final drawdown from that data before the spring melt. The room involved is modest: about 45,000 acre feet of storage at the minimum limit and 71,000 at the maximum, while one inch of runoff across the watershed, which is nearly half lakes and wetlands, comes to about 15,300 acre feet. Under two inches of runoff covers the whole operating range.
Gull itself covers about 9,947 acres and reaches roughly 80 feet at its deepest, and it anchors a chain of connected lakes and bays across Cass and Crow Wing counties that includes Upper Gull, Nisswa, Roy, Margaret, Spider and Round lakes. The DNR manages it mainly for walleye, northern pike and bass, with cisco (the local tullibee), suckers and perch as the forage base. In 2016 the agency announced it would add muskellunge to the Gull chain after two years of meetings and more than 1,800 public comments, over objections from anglers worried about walleye. At the dam the Corps runs the Gull Lake Recreation Area, with an electric campground, boat launch, swimming beach and an interpretive trail. When crews began building it in 1968 they found burial mounds. The University of Minnesota excavated in 1969, the pottery was identified as Brainerd Ware of the Woodland tradition, the site was listed on the National Register in 1973, and the remains were reinterred in 1998.
Gull Lake — frequently asked
What is Gull Lake's full pool level?
This page uses 1,194.15 feet, the top of the Corps' summer target band of 1,193.85 to 1,194.15 feet. The Corps lists normal summer pool as 1,194.00 feet, so a reading near 1,194 is right where the lake is supposed to be from the fishing opener through fall. The maximum operating limit is 1,194.75 feet; above that the dam is passing as much water as conditions allow.
Why is Gull Lake lower in winter?
Every fall the St. Paul District draws the Headwaters reservoirs down to make room for spring runoff. Gull's winter target is 1,192.75 feet, about a foot and a quarter below normal summer pool and also the bottom of its operating range. The final winter level depends on snow surveys taken across the basin in late February and early March, so a heavy snowpack can mean holding the lake lower going into the melt.
When does Gull Lake refill in spring?
Refill comes with snowmelt. The Corps aims to have the lake back inside its 1,193.85 to 1,194.15 foot summer band by the mid May fishing opener. Because the watershed is only 287 square miles and an inch of runoff from it is roughly 15,300 acre feet, a normal spring melt is usually enough to cover the foot or so between the winter target and summer pool.
What is the record high water level on Gull Lake?
The Corps lists a historic maximum pool of 1,195.09 feet on 22 July 1952. That is about a foot above normal summer pool and a third of a foot above today's maximum operating limit of 1,194.75 feet. Discharge records at the dam go back to 1 September 1911, shortly before the concrete structure was completed in 1912.
How much does Gull Lake's water level change?
Very little compared with most reservoirs. The entire operating range from the 1,192.75 foot minimum to the 1,194.75 foot maximum is two feet. The gauge on this page shows a recent high of 1,194.37 feet in 2024 and a recent low of 1,193.12 feet in 2023, a spread of about a foot and a quarter across roughly six years of readings. Those are recent figures, not all time records.
Who controls the water level on Gull Lake?
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, through Gull Lake Dam on the Gull River just below the lake's outlet. Releases pass through five slide gates, each 5 feet wide and 4 feet high, plus an 11 foot stoplog bay. The dam controls runoff from the whole Gull Lake Chain and is operated as part of the six reservoir Mississippi Headwaters system.
How big and how deep is Gull Lake?
About 9,947 acres with a maximum depth of roughly 80 feet. The Corps puts the reservoir at 8.4 miles long at summer pool with 35.6 miles of shoreline, and storage of about 59,000 acre feet at normal summer level. The surrounding chain of connected lakes and bays straddles Cass and Crow Wing counties northwest of Brainerd and Nisswa.
Other lakes near Gull Lake
See current levels for all 6 Minnesota lakes and reservoirs →
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