Lake Gaston Water Level
Lake Gaston is at 199.31 ft today (Oct 30), 0.69 ft below its 200 ft full pool, unchanged this week.
Virginia & North Carolina · Roanoke River
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Water level history
About Lake Gaston
Lake Gaston is a reservoir on the Roanoke River in Virginia & North Carolina, operated by Dominion Energy. Its full summer pool sits at 200 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge at the dam and update hourly.
Understanding Lake Gaston's water level
Lake Gaston barely moves, and that is by design. Dominion Energy's Gaston Dam sits on the Roanoke River between the Corps of Engineers' John H. Kerr Reservoir upstream and Dominion's own Roanoke Rapids Lake about eight miles downstream, and the three dams are run together. Each week the Corps sets a release volume out of Kerr under its rule curve, and Dominion passes that water through Gaston and Roanoke Rapids while meeting the lake levels and downstream flows written into its FERC license. Under normal operations that keeps Gaston between 199 and 200 feet, with 200 feet as the normal full power pool. Gaston Dam itself runs on or off rather than throttling, except during high flood flows, and Roanoke Rapids below it always keeps a continuous minimum release going. The big seasonal swings in the system are absorbed upstream at Kerr. Gaston's job is to move that water through, so a reading even a foot outside the normal band usually means one of the special operating modes is in effect.
Those modes are spelled out in Dominion's operating rules. From March 1 to June 15 the river is managed for fish spawning, with steady flows below Roanoke Rapids instead of daily load following, and Gaston may be held between 200 and 201 feet so water can be stored for weekend releases. When Kerr is passing flood water, the Corps sets releases based mainly on Kerr's level and inflow, and up to three feet of flood storage on Gaston, from 200 to 203 feet, can be used. The top of the spillway gates is 203 feet and the top of the dam is 217. In a declared drought, flows are set jointly with the Corps and North Carolina water quality regulators, load following stops, and the license minimum drops to 2,000 cubic feet per second, or 1,500 from September through November. The river at the dam site averages about 8,000 cubic feet per second; the largest flow on record, 261,000 on 18 August 1940, came long before the dam.
Virginia Electric and Power Company built the dam, and commercial operation began in 1963. It is 3,600 feet long and 105 feet tall with eleven radial crest gates, and four generators give the station 220 megawatts. At 200 feet the lake is 34 miles long, 1.3 miles across at its widest, and holds about 450,000 acre-feet over 20,300 acres, with 350 miles of shoreline split between Halifax, Northampton and Warren counties in North Carolina and Brunswick and Mecklenburg in Virginia. It was built for power, not water supply, which is what made Virginia Beach's 1983 request to the Corps to withdraw water from it so contentious. North Carolina fought the transfer for years, including through the FERC relicensing and the Coastal Zone Management Act. The 76 mile pipeline from an intake on Pea Hill Creek started up in November 1997, built to carry 60 million gallons a day out of the Roanoke basin to Hampton Roads.
Lake Gaston — frequently asked
What is Lake Gaston's full pool?
Dominion lists 200 feet above mean sea level as the normal full power pool. At that level the lake covers 20,300 acres, runs 34 miles, and stores about 450,000 acre-feet. Under normal operations it is kept between 199 and 200 feet, and flood storage extends three feet higher, to the 203 foot top of the spillway gates.
Why does Lake Gaston stay so steady when Kerr Lake rises and falls?
Kerr is the flood control and storage reservoir; Gaston is a pass through. The Corps of Engineers sets a weekly release volume from Kerr, and Dominion moves that water through Gaston and Roanoke Rapids while holding Gaston between 199 and 200 feet as its FERC license requires. Kerr absorbs the wet and dry seasons so Gaston does not have to.
Does Lake Gaston have a winter drawdown?
Dominion's published operating rules describe no seasonal drawdown. The normal band of 199 to 200 feet applies through the year. The departures are the March 1 to June 15 spawning season, when the lake may be held up to 201 feet to store water for weekend releases, flood operations above 200 feet, and drought operations, when downstream flows are cut back.
How high can Lake Gaston get during a flood?
Dominion can use up to three feet of flood storage, from 200 to 203 feet. During floods the Corps sets releases, mainly from Kerr's level and inflow. Below 320 feet at Kerr, releases generally track weekly inflow up to 35,000 cubic feet per second. Between 320 and 321 feet Kerr releases 85 percent of inflow, and at 321 it passes all of it.
Does Virginia Beach get its water from Lake Gaston?
Yes. A 76 mile, 60 inch pipeline runs from an intake on Pea Hill Creek in Brunswick County, Virginia, to Lake Prince in Suffolk, carrying up to 60 million gallons a day, of which Chesapeake takes 10. Virginia Beach asked to withdraw the water in 1983, and North Carolina fought it for years. The FERC settlement included reduced withdrawals during droughts and annual weed control funding.
Is hydrilla still a problem on Lake Gaston?
It is managed, not gone. The Lake Gaston Weed Control Council, whose members are appointed by the five surrounding counties, funds herbicide treatment and the annual vegetation survey run with NC State and volunteers. Hydrilla covered 1,541 acres in 2012 and 289 acres in 2024. The newer concern is lyngbya, an algal mat estimated at 1,037 acres of shoreline in 2024.
What fish are in Lake Gaston?
Largemouth bass, striped bass stocked by North Carolina, walleye stocked yearly by Virginia, crappie, catfish and chain pickerel. The bass picture is shifting: Alabama bass, first caught by anglers in 2012, made up 55 percent of North Carolina's 2022 electrofishing sample, and biologists encourage harvesting them since they have no creel or length limit. North Carolina and Virginia licenses are both valid lake wide.
Other lakes near Lake Gaston
- John W. Flannagan ReservoirVA
- Claytor LakeVA
- Kerr Lake (Buggs Island Lake)VA/NC
- South Holston LakeTN/VA
- Philpott LakeVA
- Smith Mountain LakeVA
See current levels for all 7 Virginia lakes and reservoirs →
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