Lake Jocassee Water Level
South Carolina · Keowee River
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Water level history
About Lake Jocassee
Lake Jocassee is a reservoir on the Keowee River in South Carolina, operated by Duke Energy. It's known for exceptionally clear, deep, cold water fed by mountain rivers. Its full summer pool sits at 1110 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from Duke Energy and reflect the latest reported level.
Understanding Lake Jocassee's water level
Lake Jocassee is a battery. It sits between two pumped-storage stations, and that is the single most useful thing to know about its level. The Jocassee station below it generates by dropping water roughly 310 feet into Lake Keowee and reverses its four 177.5-megawatt units to pump it back up overnight. Above it, the Bad Creek station uses Jocassee as its own lower reservoir, moving water up to a mountaintop pool that operates between 2,150 and 2,310 feet. Jocassee is therefore both a source and a sink, cycling daily in a way an ordinary reservoir does not.
The published operating band runs from 1,096 to 1,110 feet, with a summer target of 1,109.5 and a January target of 1,106. Under the deepest drought stage the floor drops to 1,080. Duke's own daily data shows what the pumped-storage duty actually does: over five years the median day-to-day change is 0.40 feet at Jocassee against 0.10 at Lake James, and Bad Creek's own reservoir moves a median 6.30 feet a day. The basin entered drought Stage 1 in December 2025 and Stage 2 in February 2026, which limits lakeside irrigation withdrawals to two days a week.
It is also very deep and very clear, with a maximum depth reported between 330 and 351 feet depending on the source, and around five thousand scuba divers a year come for it. What they go down to see is a drowned valley: the Attakulla Lodge lying on its side, the stone pillars and white picket fence that marked the entrance to Camp Jocassee for Girls, and the headstones of the Mount Carmel Baptist cemetery. Worth correcting a common story there, because Duke Energy is explicit about it: the monuments remain, but the remains were moved to dry land before the lake filled. Around the shoreline the Jocassee Gorges protects roughly 43,500 acres with 171 known occurrences of rare, threatened or endangered species, and Devils Fork State Park is the only public access. Five South Carolina state records have come out of this lake, including a 17-pound 9-ounce brown trout in 1987.
Lake Jocassee — frequently asked
Why does Lake Jocassee's level move every day?
Pumped storage, from both directions. The Jocassee station generates by dropping water about 310 feet into Lake Keowee and reverses its four units to pump it back overnight. Separately, the Bad Creek station above uses Jocassee as its lower reservoir, drawing water up to a mountaintop pool. Over five years Duke's daily data shows a median day-to-day change of 0.40 feet here, four times Lake James's 0.10.
What is Lake Jocassee's normal operating range?
1,096 to 1,110 feet above sea level. The published monthly target is 1,109.5 feet from May through October and 1,106 in January, with the curve easing between. Under the deepest drought stage the floor drops to 1,080 feet, giving a maximum drawdown of about thirty feet from full pond.
How deep and clear is Lake Jocassee?
Deep enough that around five thousand scuba divers visit each year. Duke gives the deepest point as 330 feet; South Carolina's natural resources department gives a maximum of about 351 feet with a mean depth over 150. The clarity is described qualitatively in every official source, so treat any specific visibility number you see elsewhere with caution.
What is underwater in Lake Jocassee?
The Jocassee Valley. Divers visit the Attakulla Lodge, a hotel that slid off its foundation and rests on its side, and the stone pillars and white picket fence that formed the entrance to Camp Jocassee for Girls. The headstones of the Mount Carmel Baptist cemetery are also down there, but Duke Energy is explicit that the monuments remain while the remains themselves were moved to dry land before the lake filled.
What is the Jocassee Gorges?
A protected area of roughly 43,500 acres on the Blue Ridge Escarpment around the lake, part of a broader protected landscape of about 150,000 acres across three states. Nearly 35,000 acres were purchased in autumn 1998. It holds 171 known occurrences of rare, threatened or endangered species and about 88 miles of perennial streams, and its hallmark plant is the Oconee bell.
What fish are in Lake Jocassee?
It has been managed as a trout fishery since 1972, with rainbow trout averaging around three pounds and brown trout four to five. Trout sit near the surface in winter and drop to sixty feet and deeper by late summer, holding around submerged timber. Five South Carolina state records have come from this lake: brown trout, rainbow trout, smallmouth bass, spotted bass and redeye bass.
Other lakes near Lake Jocassee
- Lake KeoweeSC
- J. Strom Thurmond Lake (Clarks Hill)GA/SC
- Lake MarionSC
- Lake HartwellGA/SC
- Lake MoultrieSC
- Lake GreenwoodSC
See current levels for all 11 South Carolina lakes and reservoirs →
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