Lovewell Reservoir Water Level
Lovewell Reservoir is at 1,580.50 ft today (Oct 31), 2.10 ft below its 1,582.6 ft full pool, up 0.03 ft this week.
Kansas · White Rock Creek
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Water level history
About Lovewell Reservoir
Lovewell Reservoir is a reservoir on the White Rock Creek in Kansas, operated by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Its full summer pool sits at 1582.6 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Lovewell Reservoir's water level
Lovewell is an irrigation reservoir first, and its level follows the farm calendar of the Kansas Bostwick Irrigation District No. 2 more than anything else. The Bureau of Reclamation built the dam on White Rock Creek between 1955 and 1957 as part of the Bostwick Division of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, a project pushed by the 1935 Republican River flood that killed 110 people. White Rock Creek drains only about 358 square miles, so much of the water comes from somewhere else: the Courtland Canal, which leaves the Republican River at the Superior-Courtland Diversion Dam near Guide Rock, Nebraska, and runs south into the reservoir. How much it carries swings widely. In 2023 the canal supplied about 84 percent of the lake's inflow; in 2025, a wet year on White Rock Creek, it supplied about 38 percent. Water released below the dam goes on down the Courtland Canal to more than 25,000 irrigated acres.
The number to know is 1,582.6 feet, the top of the conservation pool, which holds about 34,900 acre-feet under the 2020 sediment survey tables. Below it sits the inactive pool, topping out at 1,571.7 feet. Above it, up to 1,595.3 feet, is flood storage, and while Reclamation runs the dam, regulating that flood space is the job of the Army Corps of Engineers. A typical year looks like a sawtooth. Spring rain and canal water bring the lake to or slightly above conservation pool, irrigation releases start in late May or June and pull it down until mid-September, and then the canal refills it through fall and winter. Summer lows have run from 1,576.38 feet in 2021 to 1,573.27 feet on 30 August 2024, more than nine feet below full.
2025 showed both ends of the range. Overnight rains of four to six inches on 30 June sent the lake to 1,586.90 feet on 3 July, 4.3 feet into the flood pool, and Reclamation reported it stayed in flood storage for 88 straight days, with releases to the creek staged as high as 600 cubic feet per second. Then the fall refill never came, because the upper Courtland Canal was taken out of service for a FEMA funded reshaping, and the year ended at 1,579.12 feet. That is why the lake started 2026 low. For anglers, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks rates the white bass and wiper fishing good and walleye fair; it stocked 300,000 wiper fry in May 2024, and a fish barrier across the outlet since 2013 keeps fish from washing out with irrigation releases.
Lovewell Reservoir — frequently asked
What is Lovewell Reservoir's full pool?
1,582.6 feet above sea level, the top of the conservation pool. At that level the lake covers roughly 3,000 acres and holds about 34,900 acre-feet under the capacity tables that took effect after a 2020 sediment survey. The flood pool extends another 12.7 feet, to 1,595.3 feet. Readings above 1,582.6 mean the lake is holding flood water, which the Corps of Engineers regulates.
Why is Lovewell Reservoir low?
Usually because of irrigation. The Kansas Bostwick Irrigation District draws the lake down from about June until mid-September, commonly eight feet or more below its spring peak. Lovewell then depends on fall and winter diversions from the Republican River through the Courtland Canal to refill. In fall 2025 those diversions did not happen while the upper canal was reshaped, so the lake entered 2026 about 3.5 feet below full and went lower once irrigation began.
What was Lovewell's high water in 2025?
Reclamation's operating report puts the 2025 peak at 1,586.90 feet on 3 July, 4.3 feet above conservation pool, after four to six inches of rain fell overnight on the White Rock Creek basin. Another 6.22 inches fell at the dam the week of 17 July. The lake spent 88 consecutive days in the flood pool; about 21,500 acre-feet of that flood water went to irrigation and 8,800 acre-feet was released down White Rock Creek.
When does Lovewell Reservoir refill?
Mostly in fall and winter. Once the irrigation season ends in mid-September, the district normally keeps diverting Republican River water down the Courtland Canal into the lake. Since 2022 the canal from the Guide Rock diversion to Lovewell has been automated, which lets the district catch runoff events on the river. Spring storms on White Rock Creek add the rest, and in wet years they push the lake into its flood pool.
Where does Lovewell Reservoir's water come from?
Two places. White Rock Creek, with Montana and Johns creeks, enters from the west, and the Courtland Canal brings Republican River water from the Superior-Courtland Diversion Dam near Guide Rock, Nebraska. The Republican's flows are divided among Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas under a 1943 compact, and Kansas has fought Nebraska over it in the U.S. Supreme Court, reaching a settlement in 2003 and winning a 2015 ruling that Nebraska pay $5.5 million.
Can you launch a boat at Lovewell when the water is low?
Lovewell State Park, on the north shore, has double-lane ramps at the marina and at Cedar Point, and the state park says the Cedar Point ramp can be used at any water level. Floating breakwaters there calm the water. The marina, which is full service, rents slips by the day or the season. Winter is the other limit: one January state waterfowl report listed every ramp frozen.
What is the fishing like at Lovewell Reservoir?
State biologists rate catfish and white bass/wipers good, crappie fair to good and walleye fair. White bass numbers were low for several years, but fall sampling showed improvement. Walleye carry an 18-inch minimum and blue catfish a 10 fish daily limit with only one over 30 inches. When the Courtland Canal is running, the state asks for about 20 cubic feet per second into the lake, which makes the canal inlet a good spot to fish.
Other lakes near Lovewell Reservoir
- Marion ReservoirKS
- Kanopolis LakeKS
- Melvern LakeKS
- John Redmond ReservoirKS
- Milford LakeKS
- Hillsdale LakeKS
See current levels for all 21 Kansas lakes and reservoirs →
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