Los Banos Reservoir Water Level
Los Banos Reservoir is at 296.00 ft today (Oct 30), 57.50 ft below its 353.5 ft full pool, unchanged this week.
California · Los Banos Creek
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Water level history
About Los Banos Reservoir
Los Banos Reservoir is a reservoir on the Los Banos Creek in California, operated by California Department of Water Resources. Its full summer pool sits at 353.5 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Los Banos Reservoir's water level
Los Banos Reservoir is a flood detention pool first and a lake second. The dam, officially the Los Banos Creek Detention Dam, sits in a steep canyon of the Diablo Range about seven miles southwest of the city of Los Banos in western Merced County. The Bureau of Reclamation built it in 1964 and 1965 and finished it in 1966 to catch floodwater from Los Banos Creek before it could reach the San Luis Canal, the Delta-Mendota Canal, the city and the farmland around it. Reclamation owns the dam; the California Department of Water Resources operates and maintains it as a joint-use facility, and releases follow flood control criteria set by the Army Corps of Engineers. The creek itself is intermittent, so for much of the year nothing is flowing in. On days when Corps gauges show 0 cubic feet per second coming in, the level can only hold steady or fall.
The Corps elevation table explains the gauge on this page. The old streambed is at 217 feet, which is why the bar starts there. Below 296 feet is inactive storage. The conservation pool tops out at 327.77 feet, and the space from there to 353.5 feet is the flood pool; 353.5 is also listed as top of gross pool, the figure this page uses as full. Above that is surcharge to 378.2 feet, where the spillway is rated at 8,600 cubic feet per second, and the dam crest is at 384. Reclamation puts storage at roughly 34,000 acre-feet. A 2024 San Luis Water District filing gives a maximum of 34,562 acre-feet and says the reservoir runs near a winter conservation pool of 20,562 acre-feet, with full capacity usable only in summer. In practice the lake rarely approaches 353.5. The high on this page's roughly six-year record, 336.29 feet in 2023, is still more than seventeen feet short of it.
The lake is changing roles. Under a storage program approved in 2024, the San Luis Water District and partner agencies route natural Los Banos Creek flows downstream to riparian lands in spring, then fill the space they free up with conserved water, groundwater, recovered tailwater or water from the Meyers Water Bank, and release it later for irrigation and wetland habitat. The $5.5 million work, which added a pipeline, fish screens, control valves and a longer boat ramp, ran from late 2025 into spring 2026. The reservoir was drawn down after Labor Day 2025 so the pipeline and ramp extension could be built, and the park was closed through the work. On the water, the whole lake is a 5 mph zone, boating is sunrise to sunset only, and there is a single launch ramp. Reclamation lists 620 surface acres and 12 miles of shoreline.
Los Banos Reservoir — frequently asked
What is full pool at Los Banos Reservoir?
This page uses 353.5 feet, which the Army Corps of Engineers lists as both the top of the flood pool and the top of gross pool. It is not a level the lake normally holds. The conservation pool tops out at 327.77 feet, and the 26 feet above that are kept as flood space. Surcharge runs to 378.2 feet and the dam crest is at 384 feet.
Why is Los Banos Reservoir so low?
It was built to detain floods, not to stay full. Los Banos Creek is an intermittent stream, so through the dry season inflow is often zero and the level only drops. Winter operation keeps flood space open under Corps rules. In early October 2026 the Corps reported the lake at 296 feet, the top of inactive storage, with about 8,300 acre-feet in it and no inflow or outflow.
What are the highest and lowest levels on record?
This page's gauge covers only about six recent years, so its figures are not all-time records. Within that window the high was 336.29 feet in 2023, about 8.5 feet above the top of conservation and into the flood pool, though still well short of 353.5. The low was 296 feet in 2026, which matches the top of inactive storage after the reservoir was drawn down for the storage program construction.
Who operates Los Banos Reservoir?
The dam is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation and operated and maintained by the California Department of Water Resources as a joint-use facility of the San Luis complex. Flood releases follow criteria from the Army Corps of Engineers. Recreation is run by California State Parks as part of San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area, which also covers San Luis Reservoir and O'Neill Forebay.
What is the Los Banos Creek Detention Reservoir Storage Program?
A San Luis Water District project approved in 2024 that lets local agencies store their own water behind the dam. Natural creek flows are passed downstream in spring, and the freed space is filled with conserved water, groundwater, tailwater or Meyers Water Bank water for later release to farms and wetland habitat. The $5.5 million build, including a new pipeline, fish screens and a longer boat ramp, wrapped up in spring 2026.
Can you boat and fish at Los Banos Reservoir?
Yes, within limits. The entire lake is 5 mph, boats may be on the water only from sunrise to sunset, and there is one launch ramp. DWR lists largemouth bass, bluegill, crappie, catfish and trout, and Reclamation notes that trout are stocked in fall and winter. Los Banos Creek Campground has 20 primitive sites with tight turnarounds that do not suit most RVs.
Is the Path of the Padres tour running?
Not in 2026. State Parks canceled the guided Path of the Padres program for the year because of the Los Banos Creek closure and the storage program construction. The program normally runs in spring and uses a combined boat and hiking route to the old baths used by the padres of early California.
Other lakes near Los Banos Reservoir
- Lake McClureCA
- Lake KaweahCA
- Millerton LakeCA
- Lake IsabellaCA
- New Bullards Bar ReservoirCA
- Indian Valley ReservoirCA
See current levels for all 29 California lakes and reservoirs →
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