Englebright Lake Water Level
Englebright Lake is at 524.95 ft today (Oct 31), 2.05 ft below its 527 ft full pool, down 1.11 ft this week.
California · Yuba River
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Water level history
About Englebright Lake
Englebright Lake is a reservoir on the Yuba River in California, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 527 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Englebright Lake's water level
Englebright Lake was built to catch mud, not to store water. The California Debris Commission put the dam into service in 1941 under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1935 as part of the Sacramento River Debris Control Project. Hydraulic gold mining in the Sierra had been halted in 1884, and the plan was to let it resume in the Yuba watershed behind a barrier that kept its gravel and silt out of the valley. Mining never came back in a big way, but the old mine sites kept shedding sediment and the dam kept trapping it. When the U.S. Geological Survey mapped the lake bottom in 2001 and 2002, it found about 17,750 acre-feet of deposits, a 25.5 percent loss from an original capacity of roughly 69,700 acre-feet. The concrete arch stands 260 feet high and 1,142 feet across, and the lake reaches about nine miles up the canyon. It carries the name of Harry L. Englebright, a Nevada City mining engineer who represented the area in Congress from 1926 until his death in 1943.
The level barely moves compared with the big valley reservoirs, and that is by design. Yuba Water Agency, which runs the Narrows 1 and Narrows 2 powerhouses at the foot of the dam, describes a normal operating band of just eight feet, between elevation 517 and 525. The spillway has no gates. Once the lake rises past about 527.2 feet, water simply pours over the crest, which is why this page uses 527 feet as full pool. The real storage on the river sits upstream at New Bullards Bar, which holds more than 966,000 acre-feet on the North Yuba, over ten times what Englebright held when new. Water released from New Bullards Bar flows down through Englebright to the Narrows plants. Narrows 2 is rated at 55 megawatts, and Narrows 1, built in 1942 and bought from PG&E in 2020, at 12 megawatts. Together they pass roughly 4,300 cubic feet per second. When a storm sends in more than the outlets can carry, the lake tops 527.2 feet and the excess goes over the dam.
A steady shoreline is what makes boat camping and houseboats practical here. Recreation.gov lists 51 reservable campsites, every one reachable only by boat, with a fire ring, picnic table and tent pad but no drinking water, so campers haul their own. Two paved ramps serve the lake, and Skippers Cove Marina has houseboat docks and rents houseboats, fishing boats and ski boats. The Narrows Day Use Area is scheduled to close for about a year beginning July 23, 2026. Yuba Water pays for up to 5,000 half pound rainbow trout to be stocked each year under its federal hydropower license. Mercury left over from the gold rush is the reason for a 2009 state advisory telling women under 50 and children not to eat black bass from the lake. The dam is also a complete barrier to salmon. In late 2024 biologists planted spring run Chinook eggs in the North Yuba, the first salmon in that river in nearly a century, and the young fish are trucked around Englebright to the lower Yuba.
Englebright Lake — frequently asked
What is Englebright Lake's full pool elevation?
This page uses 527 feet. The dam has an ungated spillway, and water begins spilling once the lake passes about 527.2 feet. Yuba Water Agency's agreement with the Army Corps gives it use of storage between elevations 450 and 527 feet, but in practice the lake normally stays within an eight foot band between 517 and 525 feet, so a reading in the low 520s is ordinary.
Why doesn't Englebright Lake drop like other California reservoirs?
It is small and it is not where the Yuba's water is banked. Englebright held about 69,700 acre-feet when new and has since lost roughly a quarter of that to sediment. The seasonal storage lives upstream at New Bullards Bar, which holds more than 966,000 acre-feet. Releases from there pass through Englebright to the Narrows powerhouses, so the lake works as a pass through pool held within a narrow operating band.
Is Englebright Dam a flood control dam?
No. It was built in 1941 to trap hydraulic mining debris, and its spillway is uncontrolled, so once the lake is above about 527.2 feet any extra inflow simply spills. Flood space on the Yuba is held by Yuba Water Agency upstream, where its facilities set aside 170,000 acre-feet of dedicated flood storage during the rainy season, including at New Bullards Bar.
What is the largest flood recorded below Englebright Dam?
At the USGS gage on the Yuba River below Englebright Dam near Smartville, the highest peak on record is 171,000 cubic feet per second on December 22, 1964. Next are 154,000 on January 2, 1997, 150,000 on February 1, 1963, and 148,000 on December 23, 1955. These are river flows over the spillway and through the outlets, not lake levels. The largest peak since 2005 was 81,400 on January 9, 2017.
How much sediment has filled Englebright Lake?
USGS surveys in 2001 and 2002 measured about 17,750 acre-feet of sediment behind the dam, a 25.5 percent loss of the original storage of roughly 69,700 acre-feet over the first sixty years. That is the dam doing its intended job. Much of the material is gold rush era gravel and silt washed down from old hydraulic mine sites in the Yuba watershed.
Can you camp at Englebright Lake?
Yes, but only by boat. Recreation.gov lists 51 reservable boat in sites, each with a fire ring, lantern hanger, picnic table and tent pad, with vault toilets nearby and no hookups or drinking water. Launch from one of the two paved ramps or from Skippers Cove Marina. The campground nightly fee rises from $20 to $30 on January 1, 2027.
Is it safe to eat fish from Englebright Lake?
Some, in moderation. California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment issued a mercury advisory for the lake in 2009. Women 18 to 49 and children should eat no black bass, and limit themselves to two servings a week of rainbow trout or one of sunfish. Women 50 and older and men can eat one serving of black bass a week and up to seven of rainbow trout.
Other lakes near Englebright Lake
- Folsom LakeCA
- Eastman LakeCA
- Lake HavasuAZ/CA
- Don Pedro ReservoirCA
- Hensley LakeCA
- Camanche ReservoirCA
See current levels for all 29 California lakes and reservoirs →
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