Enid Lake Water Level
Enid Lake is at 240.97 ft today (Oct 19), 9.03 ft below its 250 ft full pool, down 1.13 ft this week.
Mississippi · Yocona River
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Water level history
About Enid Lake
Enid Lake is a reservoir on the Yocona River in Mississippi, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It once produced the world-record white crappie. Its full summer pool sits at 250 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Enid Lake's water level
Enid Lake is one of the four Yazoo Basin headwater lakes, with Arkabutla, Sardis and Grenada, built under the Flood Control Act of 1936 to hold hill country runoff off the Mississippi Delta. It sits on the Yocona River about three miles north of the town of Enid, and its 560 square mile watershed is the smallest of the four. What it lacks in drainage it makes up in room. At the spillway crest of 268 feet the lake spreads over 28,000 acres, backs about 18 miles up the Yocona and holds 602,400 acre-feet of flood water, enough to cover the whole drainage 20.2 inches deep. That is more storage per square mile than any of its neighbors, so when the Vicksburg District decides which lake to empty first after a flood, Enid ranks last. The dam is an earthfill embankment 8,400 feet long and 105 feet above the streambed, with two 8 by 16 foot gates and an uncontrolled concrete chute spillway 200 feet wide. It has been in operation since 1952.
The level follows a yearly guide curve, not a fixed full pool. The 250 feet shown as full pool on this page is the summer target. Through January the lake sits at its winter conservation pool of 230 feet, about 6,100 acres. In mid January the Corps starts letting it rise, a 1989 change made after fishermen, chambers of commerce and lakeside residents asked for higher spring water, so that about five feet of extra water is in the lake by 1 March. The curve reaches 250 feet, roughly 16,100 acres, around the start of May and holds there through July. The gates open around 1 August and the lake is let down about a tenth of a foot a day, back to 230 by 1 December, so the full flood pool is empty before the November to May flood season. That drawdown exposes wide mud flats every fall; complaints about them prompted a 1972 study recommending winter pools about five feet higher, but it was never carried forward. Heavy rain overrides the schedule: after two inches in 24 hours the operators close both gates and hold water until the Delta can take it.
The highest water on record is 271.7 feet on 1 May 1991, in a spring when all four Yazoo Basin lakes went over their spillways at the same time. Enid ran over its spillway for 74 days that year, and Arkabutla and Grenada also set new records. The spillways at Enid, Sardis and Grenada had first carried water in March 1973. More recent floods came close: the lake crested near 268.2 feet in May 2019, and high water in June 2021 closed the Persimmon Hill, Chickasaw Hill and Plum Point beaches. Enid is also the only one of the four with a water supply contract, a 1998 agreement giving LSP Energy 4,500 acre-feet of storage below 230 feet. Its fishing fame rests on one fish. Fred Bright's white crappie of 5 pounds 3 ounces, caught on 31 July 1957, still stands as the all tackle world record. Crappie here now carry a 12 inch minimum length and, since July 2024, a limit of 10 per angler per day, cut from 15 after state biologists found anglers using live sonar were catching two to three times as many fish.
Enid Lake — frequently asked
What is Enid Lake's full pool?
It depends on the season. The Corps holds the lake at 250 feet in summer, which is the figure shown here as full pool, and draws it to a winter conservation pool of 230 feet. Flood storage runs from 230 up to the spillway crest at 268 feet, where the lake covers 28,000 acres. Above that is surcharge up to 284 feet, and the top of the dam is 293 feet.
Why is Enid Lake so low in the fall and winter?
The drawdown is deliberate. Starting around 1 August the Corps releases water at about a tenth of a foot a day, dropping the lake 20 feet from its 250 foot summer level to 230 feet by 1 December. That empties the flood storage before the November to May wet season, when most Yazoo Basin floods happen. At 230 feet the lake shrinks to about 6,100 acres and extends only about eight miles up the Yocona.
When does Enid Lake fill back up?
The guide curve holds 230 feet until mid January, then allows a slow rise so that about five feet of extra water is in place by 1 March. The rise continues through March and April, reaching the 250 foot summer level around the start of May. A wet spring can push it well above the curve, since spring rain that cannot be released without flooding Delta farmland is stored in the lake.
What is Enid Lake's record high level?
271.7 feet on 1 May 1991, 3.7 feet over the spillway crest. That spring was the wettest April on record in the Yazoo Basin, and Enid stayed above its spillway for 74 days. The next highest crests on the National Weather Service list are 270.3 feet in May 1983 and about 268.2 feet in May 2019. The gauge on this page only covers readings since 2021, so its high and low are recent marks.
How big is Enid Lake?
Its size swings widely with the level. At the 230 foot winter pool it covers about 6,100 acres, at the 250 foot summer pool about 16,100 acres, and at the 268 foot spillway crest about 28,000 acres stretching 18 miles upstream. The Corps manages more than 44,000 acres of project land around it, including five campgrounds: Wallace Creek, Persimmon Hill, Chickasaw Hill, Ford's Well and Water Valley Landing.
Was the world record crappie caught at Enid Lake?
Yes. Fred Bright caught a white crappie weighing 5 pounds 3 ounces at Enid on 31 July 1957, and it remains the all tackle world record for the species. The fish was reportedly 21 inches long with a 19 inch girth, though no photographs of it are known to exist. The Corps still cites the record on its Enid Lake page.
What are the crappie limits on Enid Lake?
Crappie must be at least 12 inches long. Since 24 July 2024 the daily limit is 10 per angler, or 25 per boat with three or more anglers, down from 15 and 40. The same rules apply at Arkabutla, Sardis and Grenada. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks cut the limits after finding that anglers using live sonar caught two to three times more fish than those without it.
Other lakes near Enid Lake
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