Jordan Lake Water Level
North Carolina · Cape Fear / Haw River
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Water level history
About Jordan Lake
Jordan Lake is a reservoir on the Cape Fear / Haw River in North Carolina, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 216 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from USGS gauge 02098197 and update every 15 to 60 minutes.
Understanding Jordan Lake's water level
Jordan Lake exists because of a 1945 tropical storm that hit the Cape Fear basin. Congress authorized a study the following year, authorized the reservoir in 1963 as the New Hope Reservoir, renamed it in 1973 for Senator B. Everett Jordan, and finally impounded it in September 1981. It reached normal pool in February 1982. The spillway has no gates: it is an uncontrolled side-channel weir with its crest at 240 feet, which is also the top of the flood-control pool. All the gate machinery is in the intake tower instead.
The proportions are worth understanding. Conservation pool is 216 feet holding about 215,000 acre-feet across 13,940 acres. The flood pool above it reaches 240 feet, 753,560 acre-feet and 31,800 acres, so the lake can more than double in surface area during a flood. There is no seasonal drawdown here; the guide curve is a flat 216 feet year round. In the gauge record since 2011 the pool has run from 233.06 feet in January 2016 down to 211.60 feet in November 2023.
Most of what makes Jordan Lake contentious is about nutrients rather than levels. It was classified Nutrient Sensitive Waters in 1983, the year after it filled, and has rated eutrophic or worse ever since. The Jordan Lake Rules took effect in August 2009 after about seven years of negotiation, and the legislature then delayed them repeatedly, at one point directing the state to test in-lake water-circulating machines as a possible substitute for upstream nutrient controls. Those machines were deployed in July 2014 at a cost over a million dollars; a report in December 2015 found no improvement, and the state environment secretary discontinued the project in May 2016, saying the data showed it would not yield the intended results. A six-year university study that followed confirmed the science behind the original 2009 rules, and a readoption process has been running since 2023. Meanwhile the lake supplies drinking water to more than 300,000 people, with allocations totalling about 91 million gallons a day led by Cary and Apex jointly at 42.7.
Jordan Lake — frequently asked
What is Jordan Lake's full pool elevation?
The top of the conservation pool is 216 feet above sea level, covering about 13,940 acres. The top of the flood-control pool is 240 feet, which is also the crest of the uncontrolled spillway, and at that level the lake spreads to 31,800 acres. The top of the dam is 266.5 feet and the drainage area is 1,690 square miles.
Does Jordan Lake have a seasonal drawdown?
No. The guide curve is a flat 216 feet all year, so unlike the Kentucky and Tennessee reservoirs on this site there is no scheduled winter lowering. Any reading well below 216 reflects drought or the tail end of a flood release rather than a schedule. The spillway is uncontrolled, so above 240 feet the lake spills on its own.
What are Jordan Lake's record levels?
Within the gauge record, which begins in October 2011, the highest daily mean is 233.06 feet on 2 January 2016 and the lowest is 211.60 feet on 21 November 2023. The lake filled in 1982, so roughly thirty years including Hurricane Fran are outside that record and an all-time figure is not published.
What are the Jordan Lake Rules?
North Carolina's nutrient management strategy for the lake, which was classified Nutrient Sensitive Waters in 1983 and has rated eutrophic or worse since. The rules took effect in August 2009 after about seven years of negotiation, and were then delayed repeatedly by the legislature, starting with a three-year delay in 2013. A readoption process with stakeholder and technical advisory groups has been running since 2023.
What happened with the water-circulating machines at Jordan Lake?
The legislature directed the state to test in-lake circulators as a possible substitute for upstream nutrient controls, appropriating $1.35 million. Units were deployed from July 2014 at a cost of over a million dollars across two years. A December 2015 report found they were producing no improvement in water quality, and in May 2016 the state environment secretary discontinued the project, citing nearly two years of data showing it would not yield the intended results.
Who gets drinking water from Jordan Lake?
More than 300,000 people. Allocations approved in 2017 total about 91 million gallons a day: Cary and Apex jointly hold the largest at 42.7, followed by Durham at 16.5, Chatham County 13.0, Pittsboro 6.0, Orange Water and Sewer Authority 5.0, Morrisville 3.5, and smaller amounts for Holly Springs, Orange County and Hillsborough.
Other lakes near Jordan Lake
- Kerr Lake (Buggs Island Lake)VA/NC
- Lake JamesNC
- Lake NormanNC
- Hiwassee LakeNC
- Lake WylieNC/SC
- Lake HickoryNC
See current levels for all 10 North Carolina lakes and reservoirs →
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