Indian Valley Reservoir Water Level
Indian Valley Reservoir is at 1,457.87 ft today (Oct 30), 27.13 ft below its 1,485 ft full pool, down 0.13 ft this week.
California · North Fork Cache Creek
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Water level history
About Indian Valley Reservoir
Indian Valley Reservoir is a reservoir on the North Fork Cache Creek in California, operated by Yolo County Flood Control. Its full summer pool sits at 1485 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Indian Valley Reservoir's water level
Indian Valley Reservoir sits in the hills of eastern Lake County, but it belongs to Yolo County. The Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District built the earthen dam across North Fork Cache Creek between March 1973 and October 1974, paid for with a 1971 bond measure and a Bureau of Reclamation grant, and made its first irrigation releases in 1975. The idea was old: A. E. Chandler first proposed it in Interior Department Water Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 45, nearly 75 years before the first releases, and the dry years of 1931 and 1933, when Clear Lake released nothing during the irrigation season, revived it. The dam is 965 feet long and 211 feet high from the toe. Behind it the lake runs about six miles long and a mile wide and holds 300,600 acre-feet at gross pool, elevation 1,485 feet, all of it gathered from a drainage of only 121 square miles. The valley floor that went under was grazing land with some farming in the bottoms.
The lake is a carryover bank for farms in western Yolo County. Clear Lake water the district does not use in a season is lost, while water held at Indian Valley stays for the next year, so the reservoir is what bridges a wet winter followed by a dry one. Irrigation orders drive nearly every release. Water runs down North Fork Cache Creek to the main stem, which used to go dry in summer, and is picked up at the Capay Diversion Dam, an inflatable dam above the town of Capay that feeds the Winters and West Adams canals. A 3 megawatt powerhouse at the dam runs on those same irrigation releases, so the summer months of steady falling water are also the months of generation. In 2025 the district leaned on Indian Valley from May to August, the lake dropped six feet in July alone, and the plant produced about 11,200 megawatt-hours, the most since 2006.
Flood control shapes the winter. From October 15 to March 15 the district must keep 40,000 acre-feet empty, under a flood curve set by the Army Corps of Engineers. Because the reservoir is so large for its watershed, that space is touched only in very wet years; the district counts nine flood pool releases in the dam's history, one of them in early 2025, when it was letting out about 410 cubic feet per second with the lake near 1,475 feet. Two tainter gates sit on a spillway crest at 1,463 feet, so anything above that is held by the gates, and the chute below can pass more than 39,000 cubic feet per second. The low end is just as dramatic. In August 2008 storage was down to about 37,000 acre-feet, and by late January 2009 it held only 19,000, a sliver of capacity. On the wet side, CDFW notes that winter flooding periodically closes parts of the 5,000 acre wildlife area around the shore.
Indian Valley Reservoir — frequently asked
What is Indian Valley Reservoir's full pool elevation?
Gross pool is 1,485 feet above sea level, which corresponds to 300,600 acre-feet of storage according to the Army Corps of Engineers reservoir data and the Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. The spillway crest is lower, at 1,463 feet, and the water between those two elevations is held back by two tainter gates. The top of the dam is at 1,502 feet.
Why does Indian Valley Reservoir drop so much in summer?
It is an irrigation reservoir first. The district releases water on demand to fill farmers' orders in western Yolo County, sending it down North Fork Cache Creek to the Capay Diversion Dam and into the canal system. In a dry summer that can mean 250 cubic feet per second or more for weeks. In July 2025 the lake fell 6.09 feet and lost 20,600 acre-feet in a single month.
How low has Indian Valley Reservoir gotten?
During the 2007 to 2009 drought the district drew it down to about 40,000 acre-feet by August 2008, and on January 29, 2009 it held roughly 19,000 acre-feet out of a 300,600 acre-foot capacity. At that point the district noted that Clear Lake and Indian Valley together were far below the 90,000 acre-feet it needs before it can release any irrigation water at all.
Does Indian Valley Reservoir ever spill?
Rarely. The reservoir must keep 40,000 acre-feet of flood space from October 15 to March 15, and because the lake is large compared with its 121 square mile watershed, that space is used only in very wet years. The district counts nine releases to restore the flood pool since 1975, including flood flows of about 410 cubic feet per second in March 2025. Those releases are coordinated with the Corps of Engineers, the National Weather Service and DWR.
Why was the water held lower in 2025?
The district drew the lake down on purpose. After seven years of work on deficiencies in the spillway, including a federal dam safety review under the hydropower license, it scheduled emergency repairs for August 2025, with crews reaching the work through the spillway approach channel. Relying on Indian Valley as the main irrigation supply from May to August lowered the pool for that work, and the repairs were finished under budget.
What fish are in Indian Valley Reservoir, and is it safe to eat them?
CDFW and the BLM list largemouth and smallmouth bass, kokanee, crappie, rainbow trout, bluegill and catfish, with brown trout in North Fork Cache Creek above and below the lake. Mercury is the catch. A 2021 OEHHA advisory tells women 18 to 49 and children to avoid black bass and carp, while other adults should limit bass or carp to one serving a week.
What are the boating rules at Indian Valley Reservoir?
The BLM limits boats to 10 miles per hour on the lake and 5 miles per hour within 200 yards of shore. Access is by Walker Ridge Road, a graded gravel road north of Highway 20, and Yolo County runs a fee campground near the dam. The BLM warns that the level can drop quite low in summer, and recommends September through May as the best time to visit.
Other lakes near Indian Valley Reservoir
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