Lake Martin Water Level
Lake Martin is at 485.56 ft today (Oct 31), 4.44 ft below its 490 ft full pool, down 0.60 ft this week.
Alabama · Tallapoosa River
Full pool is the summer level. Lake Martin is drawn down about 7 ft to roughly 483 ft over winter for flood storage, so a lower reading outside the summer season is usually scheduled rather than drought.
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Water level history
About Lake Martin
Lake Martin is a reservoir on the Tallapoosa River in Alabama, operated by Alabama Power. It was one of the largest man-made lakes in the world when built in 1926. Its full summer pool sits at 490 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Lake Martin's water level
Martin Dam closed off the Tallapoosa River at Cherokee Bluffs, just southwest of Dadeville, in 1926, and at the time the reservoir behind it was the largest impounded lake in the world. Alabama Power had been buying land and options since 1916, began clearing in July 1923, and housed its crews in a company village with a hospital, mess hall and commissary built by its Dixie Construction subsidiary. The dam stands 168 feet high and 2,000 feet across, with about 155 feet of water against it. The lake did not fill completely until heavy rain on April 23, 1928 forced the company to open spillway gates for the first time. Filling it meant razing the communities of Susanna and Benson and moving 12 cemeteries holding 923 graves. The dam carries the name of Thomas Wesley Martin, then president of Alabama Power, though it was not formally dedicated until 1936. Today the lake covers roughly 40,000 acres with more than 700 miles of shoreline, and the two largest lakefront owners are Alabama Power and Russell Lands, which belongs to descendants of Russell Mills founder Benjamin Russell.
The level follows a rule curve written into the dam's federal license, FERC Project No. 349. Summer pool is 490 feet on the Martin Datum, the scale this page and Alabama Power's shoreline guidelines use, which equals 491 feet above mean sea level. News releases quoting 491 and 484 are describing the same lake on the other scale. In a normal year the drawdown starts around September 1 and reaches winter pool by mid to late November, then the lake rises in early spring and is back at summer level by late April. Winter pool used to be 480 on the Martin Datum. The 30 year license FERC issued on December 17, 2015, which took effect January 20, 2016 after relicensing work that began in 2006, raised it three feet to 483 (484 msl). FERC staff had objected in the 2013 draft environmental impact statement that less winter flood storage would raise flood levels downstream, then dropped that objection in the 2015 final statement after refined modeling. The plant is rated at 182.5 megawatts and runs as a peaking project, so generation and rainfall both move the level.
Lake Martin is clear and infertile compared with the Coosa River lakes, and that shapes how it fishes. State biologists say growth and body condition of largemouth and Alabama bass run below the statewide average for Alabama reservoirs. Alabama bass are small but abundant and school in the colder months, while a few trophy largemouth are caught each year. Striped bass are the only fish the state stocks here; they feed almost entirely on shad, spawn on upper lake shoals and in Hillabee and Sandy creeks, and hold 50 to 80 feet deep in summer. Crappie fishing is rated excellent, best upstream around Wind Creek State Park and Elkahatchee Creek. The most fertile water is in the upper lake near Coley and Elkahatchee creeks; the Kowaliga Creek arm is the least fertile. State launches are at Wind Creek State Park, Smith Landing on Sandy Creek, Madwind Creek, Kowaliga Creek and Pace's Point near Camp Alamisco. Every six years the license calls for an extra three feet of winter drawdown so property owners can reach the lakebed to build and repair; the most recent held the lake near 480 on the Martin Datum from December 31, 2021 to February 17, 2022.
Lake Martin — frequently asked
What is Lake Martin's full pool?
490 feet on the Martin Datum, which is 491 feet above mean sea level. Alabama Power's shoreline guidelines use both figures for the same line and hold a control strip 30 feet wide (measured horizontally) from that contour. Winter pool under the current license is 483 on the Martin Datum, or 484 msl. If a reading looks one foot off from a news report, check which scale it uses.
When does Lake Martin draw down for winter?
Under the FERC license the drawdown starts September 1 unless the fall extension criteria are met. The lake comes down gradually over several weeks and reaches winter pool, 483 on the Martin Datum (484 msl), by mid to late November. In extension years summer pool holds until October 15 and the lake still reaches winter level by about the third week of November.
What is the Lake Martin fall extension, and why doesn't it happen every year?
The 2015 license lets Alabama Power hold summer pool until mid October only when four conditions are met: precipitation, current lake levels, river and stream flows, and operational conditions. The company's own analysis put the odds at about one year in four. It was granted for the third time in 2020, but was not implemented in 2025 after a dry September. As of mid September 2026 the decision was still under review.
When does Lake Martin refill to summer pool?
The lake begins rising in early spring and normally reaches summer level, 490 on the Martin Datum, by late April, according to Alabama Power. Refill depends on rain across the Tallapoosa basin, so a dry winter and spring can leave it short. Raising winter pool by three feet in 2016 also means the lake starts each spring with less to make up.
Why was Lake Martin so low in early 2022?
That was the required six year drawdown, not a drought. Alabama Power's license calls for an extra three feet of winter drawdown every sixth year so property owners can reach the lakebed for improvements and maintenance. The lake was held near 480 on the Martin Datum (481 msl) from December 31, 2021 to February 17, 2022, which is where the 479.58 low on this page's recent gauge record comes from.
What are Lake Martin's record high and low levels?
The gauge panel on this page covers only about 2020 onward, so these are recent extremes, not all time records. The high in that window is 489.64 feet in 2026, just under the 490 summer pool. The low is 479.58 feet in 2022, during the six year deep drawdown. Older records going back to 1926 are not shown here.
Was Lake Martin the largest man-made lake in the world?
When Martin Dam closed in 1926, the reservoir it created was the largest impounded lake in the world, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama. It covers roughly 40,000 acres with more than 700 miles of shoreline and is about 155 feet deep at the dam. It did not fill completely until April 1928, when heavy rain forced the first spillway gate openings.
Other lakes near Lake Martin
- Lake MitchellAL
- Logan Martin LakeAL
- Neely Henry LakeAL
- Lewis Smith LakeAL
- Pickwick LakeAL/TN/MS
- Lay LakeAL
See current levels for all 21 Alabama lakes and reservoirs →
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