Beach City Lake Water Level
Beach City Lake is at 948.17 ft today (Oct 31), 0.17 ft above its 948 ft full pool, down 0.17 ft this week.
Ohio · Sugar Creek
Get a text when Beach City Lake crosses a level you pick →
Sponsor Beach City Lake
Put your marina, real-estate, or local business in front of everyone checking this lake's level. One exclusive sponsor per lake.
Renews automatically each month or year until you cancel. Cancel anytime online. Terms · Manage or cancel · Questions?
Water level history
About Beach City Lake
Beach City Lake is a reservoir on the Sugar Creek in Ohio, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 948 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Beach City Lake's water level
Beach City Dam sits on Sugar Creek in northern Tuscarawas County, just below the point where the South Fork joins the main stem about two miles south of the village it is named for. It belongs to the chain of reservoirs that grew out of the March 1913 flood, one of the worst ever recorded in the Muskingum basin. The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District was formed on June 3, 1933, and on March 29, 1934 it signed a contract under which the federal government put $22,090,000 into fourteen dams built by the Corps of Engineers. The Huntington District finished Beach City in 1936 and 1937, and the Flood Control Act of 1939 moved ownership of all fourteen to the United States. The dam is an earth embankment 68 feet high and more than a mile long, founded on pervious glacial outwash. That foundation has been its weak point: a history of heavy underseepage during fairly frequent floods earned it an urgent ranking in the Corps inventory, and a dam safety study recommended a seepage berm, more relief wells and a new collector system.
The number that matters here is 948 feet, the normal pool. The streambed at the dam is at 931, so the lake is shallow, and at 948 it holds only about 1,700 acre-feet. The flood pool runs up to 976.5 feet and about 70,000 acre-feet, which means roughly 97 percent of the space behind the dam is kept empty for floodwater. Through summer and fall the gauge rarely strays from 948 to 948.4. Late winter and spring are another matter. In early April 2024 the lake climbed from about 950 feet on April 1 to 967.28 on April 6, a rise of more than seventeen feet in five days, then fell back and rose again to about 965 a week later as a second storm came through. The pool then drained back toward 948 over the following weeks. February 2022 reached 967.06, and every year since 2021 has seen a spring peak somewhere between 958 and 967 feet.
The highest pool on record is 976.25 feet, reached on July 6, 1969, after the July 4 storm that parked over north central Ohio for about eight hours and dropped ten to fourteen inches of rain in a band reaching southeast into Wayne County, where Sugar Creek rises. That storm killed 41 people across the region. At Beach City the water came within a quarter of a foot of the top of the flood pool, and roughly 28 feet above normal level. Recent floods have stopped about nine feet short of that mark. Day to day, the conservancy district manages about 420 acres of water and 930 acres of land around the lake. Sedimentation has made it shallow enough that boating is limited and there is no longer a public launch ramp, and camping is not allowed. The surrounding ground is mainly used for hunting, birding and a disc golf course, while the Corps keeps a picnic area at the dam off State Route 250.
Beach City Lake — frequently asked
What is Beach City Lake's normal pool level?
948 feet above sea level. That is the conservation pool listed by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District and the top of the normal pool in Corps of Engineers data. At that level the lake covers about 420 acres but holds only about 1,700 acre-feet, because the streambed at the dam lies at 931 feet. Readings between 948 and 948.4 are typical through summer and fall.
What is the record high at Beach City Lake?
976.25 feet on July 6, 1969, set by the July 4 to 5 storm that dropped ten to fourteen inches of rain in a band across north central Ohio into Wayne County, where Sugar Creek rises. That crest was about 28 feet above normal pool and within a quarter foot of the 976.5 foot top of the flood pool. The highest reading since 2020 is 967.28 feet in April 2024.
Why does Beach City Lake rise so fast after heavy rain?
It is a flood control reservoir with a tiny permanent pool. About 97 percent of its storage, between 948 and 976.5 feet, is held empty so the Corps can catch Sugar Creek floodwater and release it slowly. In April 2024 the lake rose more than seventeen feet in five days. Spring peaks between 958 and 967 feet have occurred every year since 2021.
Is there a boat ramp at Beach City Lake?
Not anymore. The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District says sedimentation has limited boating on the shallow lake and that a public boat launch ramp is no longer available. Camping is not permitted either. The land around the lake is used mostly for hunting, birding and disc golf, and the Corps of Engineers keeps a picnic area at the dam.
Who manages Beach City Lake?
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District, owns and operates the dam and decides how much water to store and release. The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, based in New Philadelphia, manages the lake and roughly 930 acres of surrounding land. The Corps project office is at 5449 State Route 250 NE, reached from the Strasburg exit of Interstate 77.
When was Beach City Dam built?
The Corps Huntington District completed it in 1936 and 1937 as one of fourteen dams in the Muskingum flood control system, funded under a 1934 contract between the federal government and the newly formed conservancy district. The push for the system dates to the March 1913 flood. The Flood Control Act of 1939 transferred ownership of the dams to the United States.
Does Beach City Dam have safety problems?
The dam stands on pervious glacial outwash and has a history of heavy underseepage during fairly frequent floods, which led the Corps to rank it as urgent in its dam inventory. A dam safety study presented in 2010 recommended filling a downstream lagoon, building a seepage berm, adding relief wells and a new collector system, and installing more instrumentation.
Other lakes near Beach City Lake
- Charles Mill LakeOH
- Atwood LakeOH
- Clendening LakeOH
- Alum Creek LakeOH
- Deer Creek LakeOH
- Wills Creek LakeOH
See current levels for all 16 Ohio lakes and reservoirs →
Add this gauge to your website
Run a marina, boat rental, guide service, or real-estate site on Beach City Lake? Put this free live-level widget on your page — just copy and paste the code: