Fort Cobb Reservoir Water Level
Fort Cobb Reservoir is at 1,342.06 ft today (Oct 19), 0.06 ft above its 1,342 ft full pool, up 3.67 ft this week.
Oklahoma · Cobb Creek
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Water level history
About Fort Cobb Reservoir
Fort Cobb Reservoir is a reservoir on the Cobb Creek in Oklahoma, operated by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Its full summer pool sits at 1342 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Fort Cobb Reservoir's water level
Fort Cobb Reservoir is a Bureau of Reclamation lake on Cobb Creek, listed as Pond Creek in federal documents, about five miles north of the town of Fort Cobb in Caddo County. The earthen dam went up in 1958 and 1959 as the first piece of the Washita Basin Project, which Congress authorized in 1956. It stands 122 feet high, runs 9,900 feet across, and drains 317 square miles. The number that matters is 1,342 feet, the top of the conservation pool. The Fort Cobb Reservoir Master Conservancy District operates the dam and holds the lake at that line, letting it slip about two feet in an average summer. Above it, up to the spillway crest at 1,354.8 feet, is flood storage. Once the lake climbs into that band, federal regulation hands release decisions to the Corps of Engineers, with outflows limited so Cobb Creek stays under 1,300 cubic feet per second and the Washita River near Anadarko under 6,000. That is why a wet spring can leave the lake sitting several feet high for a while, as it did at 1,349.26 feet in early June 2019.
Below 1,342 the lake is a municipal water supply, and every foot of drop is water already spoken for. The 20.9 mile Anadarko Aqueduct carries raw water by gravity to Anadarko and to Western Farmers Electric Cooperative, which uses it to cool a generating plant in Anadarko. Chickasha, part of the original plan before it withdrew, is again a customer and draws through its own city built pipeline with a separate intake; the conservancy district caps the city at 1.5 billion gallons a year. Reclamation's 2006 appraisal put the reservoir's long run firm yield at 13,300 acre-feet a year against 15,214 acre-feet under contract, and noted that anything beyond the firm yield would need water imported from somewhere else. The 2011 to 2015 drought showed how thin that margin is. The lake last reached full pool in May 2011, fell to 1,334.76 feet on 31 December 2014, more than seven feet low, and stayed below 1,342 until late May 2015, when spring rains lifted it to 1,345.44 feet by mid June.
Cobb Creek drains farm country; the state's 2006 cleanup plan describes a watershed that is about half cropland and grows more than half of Oklahoma's peanuts. That runoff is why the lake has been on Oklahoma's impaired list since 2002 for phosphorus, and the plan called for a 78 percent cut in nutrient load from the watershed. USGS sampling in 2006 rated the lake hypereutrophic on every measure, with cyanobacteria dominating the algae. Silt is the slower problem: a 1993 Reclamation survey found the lake had lost 7 percent of its volume at 1,342 feet since 1959, about 165 acre-feet a year, and the original design set aside 15,000 acre-feet for sediment. For anglers, those rich waters grow fish fast. Wildlife Department biologists have stocked saugeye since 1998 and report them reaching 18 inches in two and a half years, and a 10 pound 10 ounce saugeye caught here in 2006 set a state record. Hybrid striped bass have been stocked heavily since an April 2001 fish kill wiped out nearly all the adult white bass.
Fort Cobb Reservoir — frequently asked
What is Fort Cobb Reservoir's full pool elevation?
1,342 feet above sea level, the top of the conservation pool. Reclamation's original figures put storage at that level at 80,087 acre-feet, though silt has since taken part of it. Flood storage sits above, up to the spillway crest at 1,354.8 feet, and the top of the dam is at 1,380 feet. When the lake reaches 1,342 the dam operators must notify the Corps of Engineers, which directs releases from the flood pool.
What is the record high level at Fort Cobb Reservoir?
The highest reading in Reclamation's daily record, which starts in late 1990, is 1,352.24 feet on 13 June 1995, a little over ten feet above full pool and within about two and a half feet of the spillway crest. Other big years in that record include 1,351.06 feet in May 1993, 1,349.9 feet in August 2007 and 1,349.26 feet in June 2019. The gauge on this page only keeps readings since 2022, so the high and low it shows are recent marks.
What is the lowest Fort Cobb Reservoir has been?
The lowest reading in Reclamation's daily record since 1990 is 1,334.76 feet on 31 December 2014, near the bottom of the 2011 to 2015 drought and more than seven feet below full pool. The Wildlife Department's fisheries plan cites an earlier low of 1,335 feet in 1972. Between 1990 and 2011 the lake never fell more than about three feet, and it stayed nearly full through the dry years of 2001 to 2006.
Why is Fort Cobb Reservoir low?
The conservancy district aims to hold the lake at 1,342 feet, but deliveries to Anadarko, Western Farmers Electric and Chickasha pull it down through summer and fall, typically about two feet. In a long drought that drop keeps going. The lake last touched full pool in May 2011, sank to 1,334.76 feet by the end of 2014, and did not get back to 1,342 until late May 2015. Contracts already exceed Reclamation's long run firm yield.
Who operates Fort Cobb Dam and who controls flood releases?
Reclamation owns the dam, and the Fort Cobb Reservoir Master Conservancy District operates it and the Anadarko Aqueduct. Under federal flood control rules, releases when the lake is between 1,342 and 1,354.8 feet are directed by the Corps of Engineers District Engineer, who gets daily reports. Above 1,354.8, the dam releases at its maximum rate until the pool drops back.
What fish are in Fort Cobb Reservoir?
Saugeye and hybrid striped bass are the stocked mainstays. Largemouth bass and white bass occur naturally, though white bass were nearly wiped out by a 2001 fish kill. In 2008 biologists found their highest crappie numbers ever at Fort Cobb, with fish over 10 inches at four times the state average, and a 2009 electrofishing sample showed bass over 14 inches at two and a half times the state average.
What is there at Fort Cobb State Park?
The state park has an 18 hole, par 70 golf course, 279 RV sites (34 with full hookups), 102 tent sites and five cabins. Sunset Cove Marina rents boats and slips and sells fuel. The Wildlife Department's fisheries plan counted seven boat ramps around the lake, each with a dock beside it.
Flow released below Fort Cobb Reservoir
This gauge reads the water leaving the dam, which is the number to check for fishing, paddling and downstream conditions. Live flow is tracked on riverlvl.com.
Other lakes near Fort Cobb Reservoir
- Fort Gibson LakeOK
- Lake EufaulaOK
- Foss ReservoirOK
- Canton LakeOK
- Grand Lake O' the CherokeesOK
- Broken Bow LakeOK
See current levels for all 17 Oklahoma lakes and reservoirs →
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