Mark Twain Lake Water Level
Mark Twain Lake is at 602.13 ft today (Oct 31), 3.87 ft below its 606 ft full pool, down 0.29 ft this week.
Missouri · Salt River
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Water level history
About Mark Twain Lake
Mark Twain Lake is a reservoir on the Salt River in Missouri, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 606 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Mark Twain Lake's water level
Mark Twain Lake is the Salt River held back by Clarence Cannon Dam, a concrete and earth structure 138 feet high and 1,940 feet long about 63 miles above the Salt's mouth on the Mississippi. A flood control dam here was first proposed in 1937 after years of Salt River flooding, Congress authorized it in the Flood Control Act of 1962, and the dam was finished in 1983, with the lake reaching recreation pool in March 1984. It carries the name of Clarence Cannon, the longtime congressman who backed it; before his death in 1964 the project was called Joanna Dam. Filling the reservoir flooded about 165 miles of the Salt and its forks. At normal pool of 606 feet the lake covers 18,600 acres with 285 miles of shoreline, an average depth of 29 feet and a maximum of about 85. Its arms reach into Monroe and Ralls counties and wrap most of the way around the village of Florida, where Samuel Clemens was born in 1835.
The level moves because the lake is mostly empty space set aside for floods. Everything from 606 to 638 feet, about 884,000 acre-feet split into a lower and an upper flood pool, is storage the Corps of Engineers fills during wet spells and then lets out. Releases run up to 12,000 cubic feet per second once the pool is above 615, but are generally held to 6,000 or less in the growing season below that mark, and cut to 2,000 when the Mississippi is forecast at flood stage and still rising. So after a big rain the lake can sit high for weeks while the Corps waits on the river below. The powerhouse is built for peaking, with a 27 megawatt Kaplan unit and a 31 megawatt reversible pump turbine. Nine and a half miles downstream a reregulation dam, operating between 521 and 528 feet, smooths those swings for the Salt River and holds water that can be pumped back up into the lake.
The high water marks are well documented. The 1993 flood pushed the lake to 636.77 feet. That stood until July 2008, when two weeks of heavy rain and the remnants of Hurricane Dolly put more than 15 inches on parts of the Salt River basin; the lake jumped 17 feet in a weekend and crested at 640.36 feet on 30 July, past the top of the flood pool, roughly doubling its normal size. The Corps closed the lake to boating, raised releases to 50,000 cubic feet per second, and sandbagged around the powerhouse. In July 2021 it rose past 628 feet and closed beaches, trails and several ramps, with boaters sent to the high water ramps at Spalding, Indian Creek, Stoutsville and Robert Allen. The opposite came in fall 2024, when drought dropped the lake about six feet and a longtime staffer called it the lowest he had seen in 27 years. The lake also supplies drinking water: the Clarence Cannon Wholesale Water Commission's plant on the North Fork arm near Florida has served northeast Missouri since 1992.
Mark Twain Lake — frequently asked
What is Mark Twain Lake's full pool?
Normal pool is 606 feet. That is the top of the conservation pool, which holds about 457,000 acre-feet for hydropower, water supply, fish and wildlife and recreation. Everything above 606 is flood storage, in a lower pool to 624.8 feet and an upper pool to 638 feet. Readings above 606 mean the Corps is holding floodwater, and the lake will come down as releases allow.
What is the record high level at Mark Twain Lake?
640.36 feet on 30 July 2008, about 34 feet above normal pool and more than two feet above the top of the flood control pool. The previous record was 636.77 feet, set during the 1993 flood. The gauge panel on this page covers only about 2020 onward, so its high of 628.36 feet in 2021 is a recent high, not the all time record.
Why does Mark Twain Lake stay high after heavy rain?
The Corps can only release floodwater as fast as the Salt and the Mississippi can take it. Outflow tops out around 12,000 cubic feet per second in normal flood operations, is generally kept to 6,000 or less in the growing season until the lake passes 615 feet, and is cut to 2,000 when the Mississippi is forecast at flood stage and still rising. Draining 30 feet of flood storage at those rates takes weeks.
How low does Mark Twain Lake get?
The lake is kept near 606 feet when water allows, but dry years pull it lower. In the fall of 2024 drought dropped it about six feet, and a natural resource specialist at the lake said it was the lowest he had seen in 27 years. The gauge panel here shows a recent low of 599.47 feet in 2024. The bottom of the hydropower pool is 592 feet.
Which boat ramps are open when Mark Twain Lake is high?
During high water the Corps moves boaters to the high water ramps at Spalding, Indian Creek, Stoutsville and Robert Allen, opening each as the level allows and putting one courtesy dock at each. In July 2021, with the lake above 628 feet, the State Park ramps at Route U and Highway 107, the State Park beach, and several hunter and fisherman access sites were closed. Expect floating and submerged debris.
How is the fishing at Mark Twain Lake?
Missouri Department of Conservation biologists rate catfish as good, with abundant channel cats and blue and flathead catfish over 25 pounds caught every year, best in the upper North Fork, Middle Fork, South Fork and Indian Creek arms. Crappie are expected to be fair in 2026, mostly 8 to 10 inches. Bass catch rates rose 72 percent in 2025 surveys, but walleye remain scarce.
Where was Mark Twain born, and is it near the lake?
Samuel Clemens was born on 30 November 1835 in Florida, Missouri, a village the lake now mostly surrounds. His two room birth cabin is preserved inside the museum at Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site, which sits within Mark Twain State Park on the lake. A red granite monument in Florida marks the cabin's original location.
Flow released below Mark Twain Lake
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 Mark Twain Lake
- Norfork LakeAR/MO
- Longview LakeMO
- Lake of the OzarksMO
- Bull Shoals LakeAR/MO
- Pomme de Terre LakeMO
- Blue Springs LakeMO
See current levels for all 12 Missouri lakes and reservoirs →
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