Jordanelle Reservoir Water Level
Jordanelle Reservoir is at 6,115.21 ft today (Oct 30), 51.19 ft below its 6,166.4 ft full pool, up 0.56 ft this week.
Utah · Provo River
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Water level history
About Jordanelle Reservoir
Jordanelle Reservoir is a reservoir on the Provo River in Utah, operated by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Its full summer pool sits at 6166.4 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Jordanelle Reservoir's water level
Jordanelle is the upstream reserve of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project. The Bureau of Reclamation owns the dam, which sits on the Provo River about six miles north of Heber City and was built between 1987 and 1992, and the Central Utah Water Conservancy District operates it. The reservoir does two jobs that explain most of its movement. It stores Provo River water in exchange for Bonneville Unit water held in Utah Lake and Strawberry Reservoir, and it carries over water from year to year as a reserve sized to cover a six-year drought. Municipal water leaves through the Provo River and then the Jordan Aqueduct to Salt Lake County and the Alpine Aqueduct to northern Utah County. Because it is meant to be drawn down hard in dry spells, Jordanelle can sit tens of feet below full for several seasons and then refill in a single big snow year.
The number to watch is 6,166.4 feet, the top of the joint use pool, which is the level the site treats as full. Reclamation's figures put total capacity at 320,300 acre-feet and the surface at 3,068 acres, and its daily records show about 311,000 acre-feet in storage at 6,166.4. The top of active conservation sits lower, at 6,130 feet. The spillway crest is 6,169 feet, and it is the dam's only spillway, rated at 6,600 cubic feet per second. The lake has never reached it. The highest reading in Reclamation's daily record is 6,168.06 feet on 23 June 1997, and the 2023 peak of 6,167.82 feet on 21 June came within about three inches of that. The gauge panel on this page covers only recent years, which is why its high shows the 2023 peak rather than 1997. The typical year rises with May and June snowmelt, peaks in June, then falls through summer and fall as water moves down the Provo River to Deer Creek Reservoir.
Under the water lie the old mining town of Keetley and the communities of Hailstone and Jordanelle. Keetley was built for miners working on the Ontario drain tunnel, named for former Pony Express rider Jack Keetley, and during World War II became the site of Fred Wada's farm cooperative for Japanese-American families who would otherwise have been sent to internment camps. Storage began in 1993, and the reservoir first reached 6,166.4 feet in June 1996. The shoreline is Jordanelle State Park, with boat ramps at Hailstone on the west side and Rock Cliff, plus a non-motorized launch at Ross Creek. Rock Cliff is the first to suffer in a falling year; in August 2025 park staff reported it out of the water with the lake at about 6,149 feet. Utah DWR manages Jordanelle as a Blue Ribbon fishery, built around stocked rainbow trout and smallmouth bass.
Jordanelle Reservoir — frequently asked
What is Jordanelle Reservoir's full pool elevation?
6,166.4 feet, which Reclamation lists as the top of the joint use pool. At that level the reservoir holds roughly 311,000 acre-feet, close to its rated 320,300 acre-feet. The top of active conservation is lower, at 6,130 feet. The spillway crest is 6,169 feet, so in big runoff years the lake can rise a foot or so above 6,166.4 without spilling.
What is Jordanelle's record high water level?
6,168.06 feet on 23 June 1997, the highest reading in Reclamation's daily record going back to 1993. That is less than a foot below the spillway crest at 6,169 feet. The record snowpack of 2023 came close, peaking at 6,167.82 feet on 21 June 2023. In April 2023 water managers were releasing water early from the Heber Valley reservoirs to make room for that runoff.
What is the lowest Jordanelle has been?
Since the reservoir first filled in 1996, the low point is 6,102.01 feet on 23 March 2022, about 64 feet below full and holding roughly 152,000 acre-feet. That came after the 2021 drought, when the lake peaked only at 6,137 feet. February 2014 was nearly as low at 6,102.83 feet. Readings in the 5,800 to 6,000 foot range in 1993 and 1994 reflect initial filling, not drought.
Why is Jordanelle so low?
Jordanelle is built to be drawn down. It holds carryover storage meant to get Salt Lake and Utah County water users through a long drought, and it releases to Deer Creek downstream all summer and fall. After a dry winter it cannot refill. In 2025 the lake fell from 6,166.3 feet in early June to about 6,125 feet by New Year, and the 2026 runoff lifted it only to 6,141.9 feet before it resumed falling.
When does Jordanelle refill?
Refill comes almost entirely from spring snowmelt. The level usually bottoms out between late winter and April, climbs through May, and peaks in June, often within a foot of 6,166.4 feet in a normal or wet year. A single heavy winter can recover a lot: the lake rose about 50 feet between April and June 2023. After a dry winter it may peak 20 to 30 feet short, as in 2013, 2021, 2022 and 2026.
Which Jordanelle boat ramps work at low water?
Hailstone, on the west shore, is the main ramp and has courtesy docks. Rock Cliff is shallow, and the park recommends it only for boats 16 feet or shorter. It is the first ramp to go dry, and it was out of the water by mid-August 2025 with the lake near 6,149 feet. Ross Creek is non-motorized only. For current ramp status, check the state park's conditions page.
What fish are in Jordanelle Reservoir?
DWR has managed Jordanelle as a two-tier fishery for rainbow trout and smallmouth bass since 1993, with rainbows stocked every year. Yellow perch were illegally introduced. DWR has since stocked larger rainbows, and the operator's 2023 hydro filing also lists kokanee, wiper and tiger muskie. A 2026 Blue Ribbon grant pays for artificial habitat that protects young perch and bass in low-water years.
Other lakes near Jordanelle Reservoir
- Lost Creek ReservoirUT
- Flaming Gorge ReservoirUT/WY
- Pineview ReservoirUT
- Echo ReservoirUT
- Lake PowellUT/AZ
- East Canyon ReservoirUT
See current levels for all 10 Utah lakes and reservoirs →
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