Lake Oconee Water Level
Lake Oconee is at 433.86 ft today (Oct 31), 1.14 ft below its 435 ft full pool, down 0.09 ft this week.
Georgia · Oconee River
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Water level history
About Lake Oconee
Lake Oconee is a reservoir on the Oconee River in Georgia, operated by Georgia Power. Its full summer pool sits at 435 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge at the dam and update hourly.
Understanding Lake Oconee's water level
Lake Oconee is the upper half of a pumped storage machine. Georgia Power's Wallace Dam, 2,395 feet long and 120 feet high, holds it back on the Oconee River, and directly below the dam lies Lake Sinclair. The powerhouse has six units, two conventional generators and four reversible pump-turbines, with 321.3 megawatts of installed capacity, and they move water in both directions. During peak demand hours water runs down through the turbines into Sinclair, typically seven to eight hours a day in summer and five to six in fall and winter. At night, when electricity is cheap, the reversible units pump much of it back uphill into Oconee. Over a year the project averages about 390,000 megawatt-hours. Water for generation comes from the river inflow plus whatever is stored in the lake, so the two reservoirs work as one system even though Sinclair is licensed separately.
Normal full pond is 435 feet plant datum. A typical generating cycle starts there and ends near 433.5, so an average day sees about a foot and a half of movement, and less on days when demand is light. That daily rhythm, not rainfall, is what most readings on this page reflect, and overnight pumping normally returns the lake to 435. Because Wallace discharges straight into Sinclair, it has no minimum flow requirement of its own. Drought changes that. Under a drought contingency plan FERC approved in April 2004, after the City of Greensboro was allowed to increase its withdrawal from the lake, Georgia Power releases Oconee water to keep at least 250 cubic feet per second flowing out of Sinclair Dam. Those supplemental releases ran 108 days in 2007 and 126 days in 2012, and Georgia Power's relicensing documents say they produced sustained periods with Oconee below its normal operating range.
The reservoir was built and completely filled by 1979, and commercial operation began that December. Georgia Power's figures put it at about 19,050 acres with 374 miles of shoreline in Greene, Morgan, Putnam and Hancock counties, holding roughly 370,000 acre-feet. It is a shallow lake for its size, averaging 21 feet deep, with the deepest water near 120 feet. The Oconee and Apalachee rivers both feed it. Before the valleys went under, Georgia Power contracted the National Park Service, which in turn brought in the University of Georgia to survey prehistoric and historic sites; archaeologist Joseph Caldwell's 1972 proposal called the money allotted quite insufficient. The Rock Hawk stone effigy sits next to the project. Georgia Power manages the shoreline under its Shoreline Management Guidelines, and Greensboro, Madison and Piedmont Water Resources hold permits to draw water from the lake. FERC issued the current license in May 2020.
Lake Oconee — frequently asked
What is Lake Oconee's full pool?
435 feet plant datum, the elevation Georgia Power calls normal full pond. The lake is normally operated between 435 and 433.5 feet, so a reading a foot or so below full is routine, especially in the afternoon or evening after Wallace Dam has been generating. Plant datum is Georgia Power's own reference for the project, so compare readings against 435 rather than against figures from other lakes.
Why does Lake Oconee's level go up and down every day?
Wallace Dam is a pumped storage plant. It releases water from Oconee into Lake Sinclair to generate during peak demand hours, then runs four reversible units as pumps at night to push water back up. The average daily swing is about 1.5 feet, from 435 down to around 433.5. On light demand days the lake may not drop the full amount, and the nightly pumping normally brings it back to full pond.
Why is Lake Oconee low?
If it is within a foot and a half of 435, it is almost certainly the normal generating cycle. A deeper or longer drop usually means drought. When calculated inflow to Lake Sinclair falls below 250 cubic feet per second, Georgia Power releases water from Oconee to keep that minimum flow going below Sinclair Dam. Its relicensing documents say this has caused sustained periods with Oconee below the normal operating range.
How often has drought pulled water out of Lake Oconee?
Georgia Power reported supplementing Sinclair's minimum flow in nine of the thirteen years from 2004 through 2016. The longest stretches were 126 days in 2012, from late May to early November, and 108 days in 2007, from late June to late November. It also ran 89 days in 2011 and 84 days in 2008. No releases were needed in 2004 through 2006 or in 2013.
When does Wallace Dam generate?
During peak electricity demand, which is why there is no fixed public schedule. Federal licensing documents describe generation of about seven to eight hours a day in summer and five to six hours in fall and winter, with pumping back to Lake Oconee at night. Anglers watch for it because Georgia DNR's forecast notes that fish feed more aggressively when water is moving through the dam.
How big and how deep is Lake Oconee?
Georgia Power puts it at about 19,050 acres with 374 miles of shoreline and roughly 370,000 acre-feet of storage. The average depth is only 21 feet, and the deepest water is about 120 feet. It stretches across parts of Greene, Morgan, Putnam and Hancock counties, fed by both the Oconee and Apalachee rivers.
What fish live in Lake Oconee?
Georgia Power's relicensing studies list largemouth bass, black crappie and hybrid striped bass, the white bass and striped bass cross, among the principal sport fish, and document at least 28 fish species in the reservoir. Moving water during generation matters here: Georgia DNR notes that fish tend to be more active when water is flowing through Wallace Dam.
Other lakes near Lake Oconee
- Richard B. Russell LakeGA/SC
- Lake NottelyGA
- Lake SeminoleGA/FL
- Lake LanierGA
- Lake SinclairGA
- J. Strom Thurmond Lake (Clarks Hill)GA/SC
See current levels for all 16 Georgia lakes and reservoirs →
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