Don Pedro Reservoir Water Level
Don Pedro Reservoir is at 786.50 ft today (Oct 4), 43.50 ft below its 830 ft full pool, down 1.06 ft this week.
California · Tuolumne River
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Water level history
About Don Pedro Reservoir
Don Pedro Reservoir is a reservoir on the Tuolumne River in California, operated by Turlock & Modesto ID. Its full summer pool sits at 830 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from California's Department of Water Resources (CDEC) and update daily.
Understanding Don Pedro Reservoir's water level
Don Pedro is the big reservoir on the lower Tuolumne River, about 50 miles below Hetch Hetchy, and its level answers to three masters. Turlock Irrigation District owns the majority and operates the dam, Modesto Irrigation District is joint owner, and both lean on it to carry snowmelt into the irrigation season for almonds, peaches, walnuts and corn on the valley floor. The New Don Pedro Dam went up between 1967 and 1971, a structure 580 feet high with a crest 1,900 feet long. Behind it, the lake holds 2,030,000 acre-feet at 830 feet, stretches about 26 miles and has roughly 160 miles of shoreline, which MID ranks as the sixth largest body of water in California. The 1923 dam it replaced held just 289,000 acre-feet and still sits about 250 feet below the surface of a full lake. So does Jacksonville, which a state historical marker calls the principal river town in the area in 1850, a supply center for thousands of miners working the Tuolumne gravels.
The yearly swing follows a simple rhythm. Snowmelt fills the lake from spring into early summer, irrigation deliveries pull it down through summer and fall, and the Army Corps of Engineers flood rules keep up to 340,000 acre-feet of space empty during the flood season. The 1972 Corps manual sets that as the maximum reservation and lets some of it be used for storage in spring when the snowmelt forecast is small. The Corps treats about 9,000 cubic feet per second as the river's safe channel capacity, since low farmland below Waterford starts flooding past that point. San Francisco is the third player. The city helped pay for the project, and under 1966 agreements it holds a water bank account of 570,000 to 740,000 acre-feet inside Don Pedro, depending on whether flood restrictions are in effect. The account lets San Francisco keep more water upstream in Hetch Hetchy while the districts still get their senior Tuolumne entitlements.
Recent years show how far it can move. In the 2021 drought the lake fell to 723.81 feet on 24 October, holding under a million acre-feet, and the Blue Oaks launch ramp closed at the end of August because the water had dropped too far. A wet 2023 lifted it to 825.27 feet on 25 July, the highest mark since 2020. The deeper low came in October 2015 at 671.19 feet, about 628,600 acre-feet. Going the other way, in February 2017 Turlock Irrigation District opened the spillway gates for the first time since 1997 with the lake around 826 feet, and flows near 17,000 cubic feet per second pushed the Tuolumne over flood stage in Modesto. The dam still runs on an annual FERC license, since the original license ran out in April 2016 and the new license remains pending.
Don Pedro Reservoir — frequently asked
What is Don Pedro Reservoir's full pool?
830 feet above sea level, where the lake holds 2,030,000 acre-feet. Turlock Irrigation District lists 1,381,000 acre-feet of that as active storage for water supply and 340,000 acre-feet as winter flood space. The dam crest is higher, at 855 feet, and the Corps sized the lake to hold about 2.3 million acre-feet at 850 feet during a spillway design flood.
Why does Don Pedro drop so much in summer and fall?
It is an irrigation reservoir first. Turlock and Modesto Irrigation Districts draw it down to water crops through the dry months, and the Tuolumne gets required releases for fish below the dam. In a normal year the lake bottoms out in late fall or early winter, which also opens the flood space the Corps requires. In drought years, when snowmelt does not replace what was used, the lake can fall 100 feet or more below full.
What is the lowest Don Pedro has been?
In CDEC's daily record, which starts in 1985, the low was 671.19 feet on 9 October 2015, with storage around 628,600 acre-feet. Monthly storage data going back to the dam's first years show a much lower point in October 1977, about 304,000 acre-feet. The worst of the 2021 drought left the lake at 723.81 feet in late October.
What is the highest Don Pedro has been?
CDEC's daily elevation record peaks at 829.71 feet on 22 February 2017, days after the spillway gates opened for the first time since 1997. Storage records show the lake briefly holding more than its rated 2,030,000 acre-feet in early January 1997, the flood that swamped Modesto. Since 2020 the peak has been 825.27 feet on 25 July 2023, and the lake has reached about 824 feet in June of both 2024 and 2025. The gauge on this page only keeps about six years of readings, so its high and low are recent marks, not these records.
Does San Francisco get water from Don Pedro?
Not directly. San Francisco's water comes from Hetch Hetchy and other reservoirs upstream. Under 1966 agreements with the irrigation districts, the city holds a water bank account in Don Pedro of 570,000 to 740,000 acre-feet. When inflow to Don Pedro exceeds the districts' entitlements, the account gets a credit, and San Francisco can then keep Tuolumne water upstream that would otherwise have to pass down to Turlock and Modesto.
Which boat ramps close when Don Pedro is low?
Blue Oaks has been the one to watch. In August 2021 the Don Pedro Recreation Agency said the Blue Oaks ramp would close at the end of the month until the lake rose, while Fleming Meadows and Moccasin Point stayed open. Blue Oaks has an upper and a lower ramp, and in June 2024 the agency closed the upper one because of changing lake levels. The agency is funded by TID, MID and San Francisco.
What fish are in Don Pedro?
The Recreation Agency has stocked Florida strain largemouth bass every year since the early 1980s, and smallmouth and spotted bass are also present. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife stocks rainbow trout, with occasional brown and brook trout. Kokanee and king salmon are established and are often caught trolling near the dam. The state has a health advisory on eating fish from the lake because of mercury and PCBs.
Other lakes near Don Pedro Reservoir
- Eastman LakeCA
- Camanche ReservoirCA
- Englebright LakeCA
- Boca ReservoirCA
- Folsom LakeCA
- Black Butte LakeCA
See current levels for all 29 California lakes and reservoirs →
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