Lake McConaughy Water Level
Lake McConaughy is at 3,203.80 ft today (Oct 31), 61.20 ft below its 3,265 ft full pool, up 0.80 ft this week.
Nebraska · North Platte River
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Water level history
About Lake McConaughy
Lake McConaughy is a reservoir on the North Platte River in Nebraska, operated by Central Nebraska PPID. It's Nebraska's largest reservoir, nicknamed “Big Mac.” Its full summer pool sits at 3265 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge at the dam and update hourly.
Understanding Lake McConaughy's water level
Lake McConaughy is the storage tank for the whole Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District system. Kingsley Dam closed off the North Platte River in 1941 after five years of Depression-era construction that cost $43 million and put more than 1,500 people to work. When finished it was the second largest hydraulic fill dam in the world, behind Fort Peck: 162 feet tall, 3.1 miles long and 1,100 feet wide at the base. The lake behind it runs about 22 miles upstream, reaches 142 feet deep near the dam, and holds about 1,743,000 acre-feet at full pool, which Central sets at 3,265.0 feet. At about 30,000 surface acres it is Nebraska's largest reservoir, known locally as Big Mac. It takes its name from Charles W. McConaughy, a Holdrege grain merchant and mayor who pushed the project and died before it was done. Water leaving the lake drops as much as 143 feet through the Kingsley hydro plant, a 50 megawatt unit added in 1984, into Lake Ogallala, then continues down the North Platte toward Central's irrigation canals.
The level here is a running balance between Wyoming snowmelt and Nebraska irrigation demand. Most inflow comes down the North Platte, a significant share of it as return flow from Bureau of Reclamation projects upstream, and Central uses its South Platte water rights to cover downstream needs so it can hold more in the lake. The lake typically fills over winter and spring, then drops through the irrigation season; Nebraska Game and Parks puts the average summer drawdown at 13.7 feet, though 2022 saw 27 feet. Since 1998 the license has carried an Environmental Account, a block of storage built from 10 percent of storable inflows up to 200,000 acre-feet, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service releases to support Platte River habitat for endangered species. Central estimates groundwater pumping in the basin now cuts roughly 160,000 acre-feet a year from inflow. Sediment matters less: a USGS survey found the lake lost only about 1.8 percent of its net storage between 1941 and 2002, mostly to the delta at the west end.
Low water changes the lake more than most. As the level falls, the white sand beaches that make Big Mac famous widen until the public ramps no longer reach water. In 2026, after a two to three year dry stretch and record low early summer inflows, the lake fell to 3,207 feet and 27.5 percent of capacity by early August, then below 23 percent by September. Game and Parks closed public ramp access and told boaters to launch at private marinas and stay east of Van's Lakeview to avoid getting stuck. The drop exposed the foundations of old Lemoyne, a rail town flooded in 1941, for the first time since 2004. That was also the year of the record low, 3,197.6 feet, when the lake held about 20 percent of its full storage. The fishery is driven by walleye, wiper and smallmouth. Game and Parks stocks about a million walleye fingerlings and some twenty million fry a year, and in 2023 the lake produced 62 percent of all Master Angler walleye in the state.
Lake McConaughy — frequently asked
What is Lake McConaughy's full pool elevation?
Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District considers the lake full for operational purposes at 3,265.0 feet above sea level. At that level Nebraska Game and Parks lists about 30,000 surface acres and 1,743,000 acre-feet of storage, roughly 76 miles of shoreline, and a maximum depth of 142 feet near Kingsley Dam. Central reports the lake's level as a percentage of that capacity.
What is the record low level at Lake McConaughy?
The record low is 3,197.6 feet, set in 2004 during the long North Platte drought, according to Nebraska Game and Parks. At that level the lake covered about 12,400 acres, 41 percent of its full area, and held about 20 percent of full storage. The High Plains Regional Climate Center recorded the low at 3,198.0 feet and noted that the lake reached it again in 2006.
Why is Lake McConaughy so low?
Inflows have fallen short of irrigation demand. Central described a two to three year dry stretch, and in June 2026 inflows dropped to record lows for that time of year after a light mountain snowpack in Wyoming. The South Platte, which Central leans on to cut releases, was running only 75 cubic feet per second at North Platte. By early August 2026 it stood at 3,207 feet and 27.5 percent of capacity, falling about 0.3 feet a day, and dropped below 23 percent by September.
How much does Lake McConaughy drop in summer?
Nebraska Game and Parks puts the average summer drawdown at 13.7 feet, though the range is wide. In 2022 the lake dropped 27 feet. In 2023 it peaked at only 3,235.7 feet in spring and then fell 7.3 feet. In 2021 it peaked June 5 at 3,250.9 feet and bottomed out at 3,235.4 feet in early September, a 15.5 foot drop.
Can you launch a boat at Lake McConaughy when the water is low?
Not always from the public ramps. In 2026 Nebraska Game and Parks announced that public boat ramp access was no longer available because of the falling level, and directed boaters to private launch services at Van's Lakeview, Ski Patrol and Big Mac Marina, with a warning not to travel beyond Van's Lakeview. Beach camping along Shoreline Road also shifts with the water, which leaves the ramps stranded behind wide sand beaches.
What town is under Lake McConaughy?
Old Lemoyne, a rail town where cattle were loaded for the Omaha markets, was flooded when Kingsley Dam closed in 1941. Residents took several buildings apart and moved them uphill or to Brule and Ogallala. When the lake dropped below 23 percent in September 2026, the foundations of the general store, filling station columns and the bank vault slab came back into view for the first time since 2004.
What is the Nebraska state record walleye from Lake McConaughy?
The state record walleye on rod and reel, 16 pounds 2 ounces, came from Lake McConaughy on July 5, 1971. The lake also holds the state record wiper, a 21 pound 9 ounce fish caught on a swimbait on June 14, 2020. Wiper here depend entirely on stocking, and walleye fingerlings have been stocked every year since 1996, with biologists now studying how much alewife eat walleye fry.
Other lakes near Lake McConaughy
- Harlan County LakeNE
- Lewis and Clark LakeSD/NE
- Glendo ReservoirWY
- Big Hill LakeKS
- Bighorn LakeMT/WY
- Blue Springs LakeMO
See current levels for all 3 Nebraska lakes and reservoirs →
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