Lake Greenwood Water Level
Lake Greenwood is at 438.84 ft today (Oct 6), 0.16 ft below its 439 ft full pool, down 0.14 ft this week.
South Carolina · Saluda River
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Water level history
About Lake Greenwood
Lake Greenwood is a reservoir on the Saluda River in South Carolina, operated by Greenwood County. Its full summer pool sits at 439 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from USGS gauge 02166500 and update every 15 to 60 minutes.
Understanding Lake Greenwood's water level
Lake Greenwood is a county lake in the literal sense. Greenwood County bought more than 250 parcels in the Saluda River basin in the 1930s, started building Buzzard's Roost Dam near Chappells in 1935 with Public Works Administration loans it later repaid in full, and finished the project in 1940 with three turbines, each driving a 5 megawatt generator, to supply power to the Greenwood area. The Saluda, the Reedy River and Rabon Creek come together to form the lake, which covers about 11,400 acres with 212 miles of shoreline across Greenwood, Laurens and Newberry counties. It averages about 22 feet deep and reaches roughly 69 feet at its deepest. The county still owns the whole lake bed, including the parts that touch Laurens and Newberry County land, so anyone building a pier, dock or ramp needs a Greenwood County permit.
The level follows a federally mandated rule curve under the dam's FERC license, Project No. 1267. Full pond is 439 feet. In late October the county starts lowering the lake toward a winter target of 434.5 feet, about four and a half feet down, and it begins raising it again in late January. The USGS gauge at the dam shows how consistent this is: the lake usually crosses below 437 feet around the start of December, bottoms out near 434.5 in the third week of January, and is back above 438.5 by early April. The county schedules the drawdown so owners can work on seawalls and docks while the shoreline is exposed. Because the pattern repeats every winter, the lowest readings in the gauge record are planned drawdowns, not droughts.
The powerhouse has changed hands several times while the county kept the lake. The Greenwood County Electric Power Commission ran it at first. In 1966 the county sold its transmission system to Duke Power and leased it the powerhouse, and Duke operated the plant until 2007, when Santee Cooper took over the lease. Santee Cooper gave notice in 2017 that it was leaving early, citing rising costs and disputes over water management and spill requirements, and Lockhart Power now runs the 15 megawatt plant under a long term county lease. The lake is also a drinking water source. Greenwood CPW draws all of its water from Lake Greenwood through the W.R. Wise plant, in service since 1961 and rated at 33 million gallons a day, and Laurens County Water and Sewer Commission opened its own lakeside plant in 2022. In April 2026 a fish kill of an estimated 15,000 to 25,000 animals hit the lower lake, and officials had not confirmed a cause as of their June test results.
Lake Greenwood — frequently asked
What is Lake Greenwood's full pool?
Full pond is 439 feet above sea level, and it is the summer target on the county's rule curve. The USGS gauge at Buzzard's Roost Dam usually reads within a few tenths of a foot of that mark from April through October. Readings above 439 happen after heavy rain on the Saluda and Reedy basins, and the lake is normally brought back down within days.
When is the Lake Greenwood winter drawdown?
Greenwood County starts lowering the lake in late October and aims for a winter level of 434.5 feet, about four and a half feet below full pond. Refilling begins in late January. Gauge data from recent years shows the lake typically bottoms out around January 20 and gets back above 438.5 feet by early April, though a wet winter can bring it up in February or March.
Why is Lake Greenwood low right now?
Between November and March the most likely reason is the planned winter drawdown, which takes the lake down to about 434.5 feet so owners can repair seawalls and docks. A low reading in summer or early fall is more unusual. The clearest recent example came in the 2008 drought, when the lake fell to about 435.4 feet in late August and stayed near 435.5 into November, well below the 439 foot summer target.
What is Lake Greenwood's record high level?
The highest daily average on the USGS gauge at the dam is 440.13 feet, on 7 December 1983, which is the figure the widget here shows. The highest single daily reading in the gauge record is 440.34 feet on 2 November 2015, but the site's all time label uses daily averages. The record starts in October 1983 and has gaps, including 1986 through 1993 and most of 2006 and 2007.
What is Lake Greenwood's record low level?
The lowest daily average in the USGS gauge record is 434.26 feet, on 19 January 2022. That was a routine winter drawdown running slightly below the 434.5 foot target, not a drought. Nearly every winter in the record bottoms out between 434.3 and 434.7 feet, so the lows cluster tightly. The deepest summer drop on record came in August 2008, at roughly 435.4 feet.
Who controls the water level on Lake Greenwood?
Greenwood County owns the lake and the dam, and the county's Lake Management department, created in 2006, handles the rule curve, FERC compliance, shoreline permits and public access areas. Lockhart Power operates the Buzzard's Roost hydroelectric plant under a lease with the county. Duke Power held that lease from 1966 until 2007, and Santee Cooper held it from 2007 until it gave notice to leave in 2017.
What happened in the 2026 Lake Greenwood fish kill?
Reports began on 13 April 2026 near Cross Hill, below the lower train trestle, and officials later estimated 15,000 to 25,000 dead fish, turtles and snails, including crappie, yellow perch, flathead catfish, striped bass and bluegill. Low oxygen, algae and heat were ruled out. June test results found no elevated pesticides, PCBs or benzene, and the cause was still unconfirmed.
Other lakes near Lake Greenwood
- Lake HartwellGA/SC
- Lake WylieNC/SC
- J. Strom Thurmond Lake (Clarks Hill)GA/SC
- Lake WatereeSC
- Lake JocasseeSC
- Richard B. Russell LakeGA/SC
See current levels for all 11 South Carolina lakes and reservoirs →
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