Hensley Lake Water Level
Hensley Lake is at 453.38 ft today (Oct 31), 86.62 ft below its 540 ft full pool, up 0.19 ft this week.
California · Fresno River
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Water level history
About Hensley Lake
Hensley Lake is a reservoir on the Fresno River in California, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 540 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Hensley Lake's water level
Hensley Lake is the Fresno River held behind Hidden Dam, an earthfill embankment about 16 miles northeast of Madera that the Sacramento District of the Corps of Engineers completed in 1975. The dam stands 184 feet high and runs 5,730 feet across, and it catches runoff from 234 square miles of Sierra foothills; it is the only major storage reservoir on the river. The Corps puts gross pool, the lake's full level, at 540 feet, which holds 90,000 acre-feet and is also the top of the flood control space. Above that is a surcharge zone up to 556.2 feet, set aside for passing an extreme flood, and the top of the dam is at 561 feet. At the bottom end, everything below 448 feet, about 5,000 acre-feet, is inactive storage. The old streambed sits at 405 feet, which is why the level bar on this page starts there. The lake is named for John Jackson Hensley, a local settler and cattle rancher, and it opened for day use in 1978.
The level follows a yearly curve that trades flood space for irrigation water. In December the Corps allows conservation storage only up to about 486 feet, or 25,000 acre-feet, keeping roughly 65,000 acre-feet empty for winter storms. The allowable level climbs through the winter, reaches about 514 feet by April 1 and 533 feet by May 1, and gets back to roughly 540 feet by late May, where it holds through August before stepping down again from September through November. The Bureau of Reclamation's water right lets the reservoir collect water from December 1 through April 30, and Madera Irrigation District manages releases under a Reclamation contract for what is called the Hidden Unit, worth about 24,000 acre-feet a year to the district. The result is a lake that peaks in spring and is drawn down by irrigation all summer to a low in the fall. Since 1991 the yearly high has come between April and June in 33 of 35 years, 19 of them in May. A paddling guide to the lake warns that irrigation drawdown exposes rocks and shallow spots, so the shoreline you see in May is not the one you will find in October.
Even in wet years Hensley rarely comes close to full. The highest daily storage in the Corps record, which starts as the reservoir began filling in October 1975, is 89,509 acre-feet on 7 June 1979, about 500 acre-feet short of gross pool, and 1983 came within a few hundred acre-feet of the same mark. Since daily elevations begin in 1991, the top reading is 538.88 feet on 3 June 2006. Drought pushes it the other way. The lowest level since the lake first filled is 446.77 feet, or 4,632 acre-feet, on 18 November 2013, below the top of the inactive pool, and it also slipped under 448 feet in 2004, 2014, 2015 and 2022. The wettest recent stretch came in March 2023. The lake was let down from 504 feet on March 1 to about 491 feet by March 10, Madera Irrigation District reported 2,500 cubic feet per second going out to the Fresno River on March 8, and on March 11 inflow averaged 8,741 cubic feet per second, the largest daily inflow since at least 1991. Outflow peaked near 3,000 cfs the next day, and the lake kept rising to a 2023 high of 523 feet in mid May.
Hensley Lake — frequently asked
What is Hensley Lake's full pool elevation?
540 feet. The Corps calls it gross pool, and at that level the lake holds 90,000 acre-feet. It is also the top of the flood control space, so water above 540 is flood surcharge, which runs up to 556.2 feet and 117,500 acre-feet. The top of Hidden Dam is 561 feet. In practice the lake almost never reaches 540, and from late fall through winter the Corps keeps it far lower to leave room for storms.
Why is Hensley Lake so low?
Two reasons, depending on the season. From September through December the Corps lowers the allowed level to about 486 feet to make space for winter floods, and all summer Madera Irrigation District draws the lake down for irrigation, so most years bottom out in October or November. In dry years there is little to refill it. The lake fell below its 448 foot inactive pool in 2004, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2022.
What is the record high at Hensley Lake?
The highest daily storage on record is 89,509 acre-feet on 7 June 1979, just short of the 90,000 acre-feet at gross pool. 1983 came almost as close. Daily elevation readings only go back to 1991, and in that span the high is 538.88 feet on 3 June 2006. Nothing in the Corps daily record since 1975 shows the lake above full pool, so the 546.2 foot recent high on this page is a bad gauge reading; the real 2026 peak was 500.95 feet on 2 May.
What is the lowest Hensley Lake has been?
446.77 feet on 18 November 2013, when the lake held only 4,632 acre-feet, about 5 percent of capacity and below the 448 foot top of the inactive pool. That was the bottom of the 2012 to 2015 drought; the lake stayed under 459 feet through all of 2014 and 2015. The low of the 2020 to 2022 drought was 447.42 feet in early November 2022. The near empty readings from October 1975 are the reservoir first filling, not a drought.
When does Hensley Lake fill back up?
Water is stored from December 1 through April 30 under Reclamation's permit, and the Corps lets the allowable level rise through winter until it reaches about 540 feet by late May. The lake usually peaks in May; since 1991 the high has landed between April and June in all but two years. How high it gets depends on the winter. In 2023 it reached 523 feet, while in 2015 it peaked under 455 feet.
Who controls releases from Hidden Dam?
The Corps of Engineers owns and operates the dam and sets how much flood space must stay empty. Stored water belongs to the Bureau of Reclamation's Hidden Unit, and Madera Irrigation District manages releases under a Reclamation contract that provides the district about 24,000 acre-feet a year. Rights to the Fresno River below the lake are disputed; in October 2020 the State Water Resources Control Board voted to adjudicate them after a petition from the district.
Is it safe to eat fish from Hensley Lake?
In moderation. A 2021 advisory from California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, prompted by mercury, covers black bass, catfish, common carp, crappie and sunfish. Women 18 to 49 and children should skip black bass and catfish and eat no more than one serving a week of carp, crappie or sunfish. Other adults can eat one serving a week of bass or catfish, two of crappie or sunfish, or four of carp.
Other lakes near Hensley Lake
- Indian Valley ReservoirCA
- Lake HavasuAZ/CA
- Lake IsabellaCA
- Folsom LakeCA
- Lake KaweahCA
- Englebright LakeCA
See current levels for all 29 California lakes and reservoirs →
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