Paintsville Lake Water Level
Paintsville Lake is at 708.62 ft today (Oct 31), 0.38 ft below its 709 ft full pool, down 0.17 ft this week.
Kentucky · Paint Creek
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Water level history
About Paintsville Lake
Paintsville Lake is a reservoir on the Paint Creek in Kentucky, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 709 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Paintsville Lake's water level
Paintsville Lake sits in a narrow gorge on Paint Creek in Johnson and Morgan counties, a few miles west of the town it was built to protect. The Huntington District of the Corps of Engineers finished the dam in 1980. It is a rockfill embankment about 1,600 feet long that controls 93 square miles of drainage, and the lake filled to its 709-foot pool in 1983. Paint Creek runs on through Paintsville to the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy, and the dam's main job is to keep its water out of the Levisa when the river is already high. When the Levisa gauge at Paintsville reaches 25 feet in winter (November through April) or 20 feet in summer, releases are shut off and the lake starts storing water. Flood stage on that gauge is 35 feet. The Corps credits the project with preventing $504 million in flood damage in Johnson County. Normal storage is about 40,700 acre-feet, and the maximum is about 73,500.
Unlike most flood control lakes, Paintsville barely changes level through the year. It is held near 709 feet in every season. The state fisheries assessment counts only about a foot of difference between summer and winter pool, so a reading well above 709 almost always means floodwater is being stored. The highest pool on record came on 4 March 2021, after about five inches of rain in 24 hours pushed the Levisa Fork toward a forecast crest of 40 feet, five feet over flood stage. The site's gauge panel shows a peak of 725.72 feet that year, nearly 17 feet above normal. That panel covers only about 2020 onward, and its low in that window is 706.83 feet in 2024. The dam cannot prevent the flash floods that hit side streams with no reservoir above them, such as the July 2015 flood in Johnson County. In the July 2022 disaster that devastated counties to the south, Johnson County was largely spared.
The lake is clear and of low productivity, about 90 feet deep at the dam, with little shallow water. That makes it trout water. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife stocks about 4,500 rainbows each February, and the best shallow fishing comes in winter and early spring. In summer, anglers fish at night near the thermocline, 20 to 25 feet down. In 2006 the dam's cold summer releases were changed to improve cool water habitat in the lake. Below the dam, Paint Creek is Johnson County's only designated trout stream. It gets about 20,000 rainbows a year, stocked monthly from April through November, plus around 300 browns. Hybrid striped bass have been stocked since 2015, and walleye, white crappie and largemouth bass round out the fishery. Hydrilla is established. Paintsville Lake State Park, opened in 1986, has the marina and one of four free ramps.
Paintsville Lake — frequently asked
What is the normal level of Paintsville Lake?
709 feet above sea level. That is the pool the lake filled to in 1983, and it is kept there nearly all year. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources describes only about a one-foot change between summer and winter pool. At 709 feet the lake covers about 1,139 acres and holds roughly 40,700 acre-feet. Anything well above that is flood storage.
Does Paintsville Lake have a winter drawdown?
Not a meaningful one. Many Corps lakes in Kentucky drop ten feet or more each fall, but Paintsville is managed near 709 feet year-round. State fisheries biologists put the gap between summer and winter pool at about a foot. Boat ramps, the marina and fishing docks are usable through the winter, which is also when the lake gets its heaviest trout fishing pressure.
What is the highest Paintsville Lake has ever been?
The highest pool on record came on 4 March 2021, after days of heavy rain flooded the Levisa Fork valley. The gauge panel on this page shows a 2021 peak of 725.72 feet, about 17 feet above normal pool. That panel covers only about 2020 onward, but a 2023 Paintsville Herald column drawing on the Corps called the March 2021 crest the highest pool recorded at the lake.
Why is Paintsville Lake so high?
The lake is storing floodwater. When the Levisa Fork at Paintsville reaches 25 feet on the gauge in winter (November through April), or 20 feet in summer, the Corps shuts off releases from the dam. That keeps Paint Creek's flow out of an already rising river, so the lake climbs. Once the Levisa falls back, the stored water is let out and the pool returns to 709 feet.
Did Paintsville Lake help in the eastern Kentucky floods?
In March 2021 the lake rose to its record pool while holding back Paint Creek during Levisa Fork flooding. In July 2022, when flash flooding devastated counties to the south, Johnson County was largely spared. The dam has limits. It controls only the 93 square miles above it, and it could not stop the July 2015 flash flood on smaller Johnson County streams, which killed four people.
Is there trout fishing at Paintsville Lake?
Yes, both in the lake and below the dam. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife stocks about 4,500 rainbow trout in the lake each February. Below the dam, Paint Creek gets about 20,000 rainbows a year, stocked monthly from April through November, plus around 300 brown trout. Trout kept from the tailwater between the KY 40 bridge and the first US 460 bridge must be 16 inches, one a day, on artificial baits only.
When was Paintsville Lake built?
The Corps of Engineers completed Paintsville Dam in 1980, and the lake filled and opened to the public in 1983. During construction, on 9 December 1978, heavy rain led to the evacuation of more than 10,000 people downstream after inspectors found cracks in an earthen dam upstream on Paint Creek. The dam held, and residents returned home. Paintsville Lake State Park followed in 1986.
Other lakes near Paintsville Lake
- Rough River LakeKY
- Nolin River LakeKY
- Yatesville LakeKY
- Laurel River LakeKY
- Lake BarkleyKY/TN
- Kentucky LakeKY/TN
See current levels for all 15 Kentucky lakes and reservoirs →
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