Pine Flat Lake Water Level
Pine Flat Lake is at 752.44 ft today (Oct 31), 199.06 ft below its 951.5 ft full pool, up 1.05 ft this week.
California · Kings River
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Water level history
About Pine Flat Lake
Pine Flat Lake is a reservoir on the Kings River in California, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It's the biggest reservoir on the Kings River, right below Kings Canyon. Its full summer pool sits at 951.5 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Pine Flat Lake's water level
Pine Flat is the Kings River's flood control reservoir first and everything else second. The Corps of Engineers finished the 429 foot concrete dam in 1954 in the foothills near Piedra, and at its 951.5 foot gross pool the lake holds about one million acre-feet in a pool twenty miles long with 67 miles of shoreline. The reservoirs upstream of it can hold 251,900 acre-feet combined, so Pine Flat carries roughly four fifths of the storage on the river. Its rules come from a flood control diagram in the Corps manual. Winter space is held empty for rain floods, and the release required on a given day depends on forecast runoff, irrigation demand and how much vacant space is left. Before February 1, any water encroaching on that space must be released. After that date the Corps and the Kings River Water Association have more discretion, because the diagram is also built to get ready for the spring snowmelt flood.
Most of the year the lake drains on farm orders. The Kings River Water Association holds the river's licenses in trust for its 28 member agencies, irrigation demand runs from March through September, and releases are set by daily requests to the Kings River Watermaster. That is why the level drops hard through late summer and fall; officials say it normally swings about 300 vertical feet in a year. Whenever possible the water leaves through the Kings River Conservation District's Jeff L. Taylor Pine Flat Power Plant, whose three units have run commercially since April 1, 1984, total 165 megawatts, and can pass about 7,000 cubic feet per second. Larger flows go out the low level and mid level outlets or the spillway gates, which the Corps opens at about 85 percent of gross pool, roughly 27.5 feet below the top. Spillway use does not mean the lake is full. The Watermaster says the dam has never exceeded gross pool.
The recent extremes came back to back. On 7 September 2022 the lake bottomed at 729.85 feet and about 132,600 acre-feet, and a week later only about four of the usual twenty miles of open water were usable, with trees and new islands surfacing and bricks from an old jail showing. The Corps project manager told boaters to stay at least 200 feet off the shoreline. The following April, the Kings watershed snow survey averaged 73.7 inches of water content, 263 percent of average, with record depths at 21 locations, and the Corps later said inflows ran triple the lake's capacity. On 20 March 2023 the Corps began a rare flood release into the old Tulare Lakebed, and Kings River water fed the lake that reappeared in Kings County that spring. Even so, Pine Flat filled to 948.39 feet by late July. The highest daily reading in state records since 1985 is 951.13 feet on 27 June 2017. The gauge panel on this page covers only about 2020 onward, and its high is 950.12 feet in 2024.
Pine Flat Lake — frequently asked
What is Pine Flat Lake's full pool?
Gross pool is 951.5 feet, where the lake holds about one million acre-feet and backs up roughly twenty miles of the Kings River. The Corps begins using the gated spillway at about 85 percent of gross pool, some 27.5 feet below the top, so spillway releases are routine in wet years and do not mean the lake is full. The Kings River Watermaster says the lake has never gone above gross pool.
Why is Pine Flat Lake so low?
Irrigation season runs March through September, and the Kings River Watermaster releases water on daily orders from the association's 28 member agencies, so the lake falls all summer and fall. A normal year moves it about 300 vertical feet. In a dry year the drop is severe: in September 2022 only about four miles of open water were usable. Hydropower releases also move the level within a single day, enough that park staff shift the boarding floats at the ramps several times a day.
What is Pine Flat Lake's record high level?
The highest daily reading in California's state records, which begin in 1985, is 951.13 feet on 27 June 2017, when storage reached 998,852 acre-feet, just shy of gross pool. July 2011 came close at 950.75 feet. The gauge panel on this page covers only about 2020 onward, and its high of 950.12 feet came in 2024. The snowmelt year of 2023 peaked lower, at 948.39 feet in late July.
What is Pine Flat Lake's record low level?
In the state's daily records back to 1985, the low is 658.40 feet on 23 August 1990, with only about 28,000 acre-feet left in a reservoir built for a million. The gauge panel on this page covers only about 2020 onward, and its low of 729.76 feet came in early September 2022, when storage was down to roughly 132,600 acre-feet and trees, new islands and bricks from an old jail were showing.
When does Pine Flat Lake fill up?
Late spring and early summer, from the Sierra snowmelt. In every year of the state's record since 1985 the annual high came between mid May and late July. Before February 1 the Corps must release any water that encroaches on the winter flood space, so the lake usually sits well below full through winter, then rises as the snowmelt arrives and the Corps and the water association decide how much of that runoff they can store.
Why did Pine Flat release water to Tulare Lake in 2023?
The Kings watershed snow survey on 1 April 2023 found 263 percent of average water content, and the April through July runoff forecast was 3.1 million acre-feet, three times the lake's capacity. Flood water normally goes first to the North Fork, up to 4,750 cubic feet per second below Crescent Weir, with the Tulare Lakebed a last resort. Starting 20 March 2023 the Corps also sent water south toward the lakebed. Flood release requirements were lifted at midnight on 24 July 2023.
What fish are in Pine Flat Lake?
The Kings River Fisheries Management Program lists spotted bass, smallmouth bass, catfish, crappie and bluegill as the year round gamefish. King salmon, kokanee and rainbow trout turn up in this low elevation lake mostly in colder, wetter years, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife king salmon plants for 2026 include Pine Flat. In 2016 the Corps anchored 80 brush gabions down the slope near Island Park so fish cover stays in reach at different lake levels.
Other lakes near Pine Flat Lake
- Prosser Creek ReservoirCA
- Lake OrovilleCA
- Lake ShastaCA
- New Melones LakeCA
- Lake SonomaCA
- New Hogan LakeCA
See current levels for all 29 California lakes and reservoirs →
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