John Redmond Reservoir Water Level
John Redmond Lake is at 1,045.16 ft today (Oct 19), 4.16 ft above its 1,041 ft full pool, up 0.33 ft this week.
Kansas · Neosho River
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Water level history
About John Redmond Reservoir
John Redmond Reservoir is a reservoir on the Neosho River in Kansas, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 1041 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding John Redmond Reservoir's water level
John Redmond Reservoir is the Neosho River's flood control dam above Burlington, in Coffey County, and its level is set by a narrow band at the bottom and an enormous space on top. The conservation pool tops out at 1,041 feet and holds only about 58,000 acre-feet of water. Above it sits the flood control pool, which runs to 1,068 feet and can store roughly 515,000 acre-feet, close to nine times as much. The dam controls 3,015 square miles of the Neosho and Cottonwood basins, so a wet spell upstream around Emporia can push the lake twenty feet or more above normal in a matter of weeks. In June 2022, after four rounds of flooding in Lyon County, the lake rose more than 23 feet above normal and came within five feet of the top of the flood pool while the Corps released close to 13,000 cubic feet per second. When the flood pool is empty, the level settles back near 1,041 and the surface covers about 9,200 acres.
The project exists because the Neosho kept drowning Burlington. Before the dam, the river flooded 57 times in 34 years, and the flood of 1951 put Burlington and the old town of Strawn under water as deep as 30 feet. Congress authorized the dam as Strawn Dam in the Flood Control Act of 1950, then renamed it in 1958 for John Redmond, the late publisher of the Burlington Daily Republican, who had campaigned for flood control on the river. Construction started in June 1959, and the Tulsa District of the Corps of Engineers placed it in service in November 1964. The original Strawn gave way to the reservoir, and the town was rebuilt as New Strawn. Upstream, the Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1966, occupies the broad valley at the head of the lake, where rising water spreads across wetlands and bottomland timber used heavily by migrating waterfowl.
Mud is the lake's long story. The Neosho and Cottonwood carry heavy sediment, and the reservoir filled in far faster than its designers expected. By 2014 it had lost about 42 percent of its conservation storage, roughly 95,000 acre-feet of sediment, against an original projection of 20 percent. That matters because the Kansas Water Office contracts storage here for cities and industries along the Neosho and Cottonwood and as backup supply for the cooling lake at Wolf Creek Generating Station, the nuclear plant a few miles east. In 2013 the state and the Corps raised the conservation pool two feet, from 1,039 to 1,041, gaining more than 17,000 acre-feet. In 2016 the state removed about 3 million cubic yards by dredge for roughly $20 million, which the Corps described as the first time a nonfederal entity had dredged a Corps reservoir to protect water supply storage. Nearly 750 acre-feet of new sediment still arrives each year, and a 2026 state study pointed to hydrosuction as a cheaper way to keep up.
John Redmond Reservoir — frequently asked
What is John Redmond Reservoir's normal pool level?
The top of the conservation pool is 1,041 feet above sea level. That figure dates from 2013, when Kansas and the Corps of Engineers reallocated storage and raised the pool two feet from its original 1,039 to offset storage lost to sediment. The Corps reports the lake's level as feet above or below 1,041, and at that elevation the lake covers about 9,200 acres.
Why is John Redmond Reservoir so high?
High water almost always means the flood pool is in use. The dam captures runoff from 3,015 square miles of the Neosho and Cottonwood basins, and the flood control pool reaches 1,068 feet, 27 feet above normal. After heavy rain upstream the Corps stores water and releases it as fast as the Neosho below Burlington can carry it, so the lake can stay elevated for weeks after the rain stops.
How much of John Redmond Reservoir has filled with sediment?
A 2014 survey found the lake had lost about 42 percent of its conservation pool storage since 1964, roughly 95,000 acre-feet, more than double the 20 percent loss planners originally expected. A 2026 Kansas Water Office study put the loss at about 44 percent and the ongoing rate at nearly 750 acre-feet a year, which it said could threaten Wolf Creek's backup cooling supply by 2045 if nothing is done.
Was John Redmond Reservoir dredged?
Yes. Dredging began in May 2016 under the Kansas Water Office, with Great Lakes Dredge and Dock doing the work, and finished that October after removing about 3 million cubic yards. The $20 million project was the first in which a nonfederal agency dredged a Corps reservoir to recover water supply storage. The state has since studied hydrosuction, a sediment siphoning process, as a cheaper long term method.
What does John Redmond Reservoir have to do with Wolf Creek nuclear plant?
Wolf Creek Generating Station, a few miles east of the lake, cools its reactor with its own lake, and John Redmond is the backup supply for that cooling lake through an intake below the dam. Wolf Creek produces more than a fifth of Kansas's electricity, which is a big reason the state has spent heavily on raising the pool and dredging sediment.
Who was John Redmond?
John Redmond was publisher of the Burlington Daily Republican and a longtime advocate for controlling Neosho River floods. He died in 1953. The project had been authorized in 1950 as Strawn Dam, named for the town the lake would cover, and Congress renamed it for Redmond in 1958, a year before construction began.
Where can you camp at John Redmond Reservoir?
The Corps runs three campgrounds: Dam Site, and Riverside East and Riverside West below the dam. The Hickory Creek Trail offers about 15 miles of multiuse trail, and the Otter Creek area has 240 acres set aside for off road vehicles. When the flood pool rises high, low campgrounds can close, as they all did ahead of Memorial Day weekend in May 2019.
Flow released below John Redmond 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 John Redmond Reservoir
- Kanopolis LakeKS
- Hillsdale LakeKS
- Lovewell ReservoirKS
- Fall River LakeKS
- Marion ReservoirKS
- Elk City LakeKS
See current levels for all 21 Kansas lakes and reservoirs →
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