Sardis Lake Water Level
Sardis Lake is at 248.75 ft today (Oct 19), 11.25 ft below its 260 ft full pool, down 1.17 ft this week.
Mississippi · Little Tallahatchie River
Sponsor Sardis Lake
Put your marina, real-estate, or local business in front of everyone checking this lake's level. One exclusive sponsor per lake.
Renews automatically each month or year until you cancel. Cancel anytime online. Terms · Manage or cancel · Questions?
Water level history
About Sardis Lake
Sardis Lake is a reservoir on the Little Tallahatchie River in Mississippi, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 260 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Sardis Lake's water level
Sardis was the first of the four Yazoo Basin headwater lakes, the first one the Corps designed and the first to go into operation, in October 1940. The dam sits on the Little Tallahatchie River about 11 miles northeast of Batesville and was finished in 1942. It is an earth dam roughly 15,300 feet long and 97 feet above the valley floor, built mostly by the hydraulic fill method: the dredge Pontotoc pumped soil from below the dam, and the borrow pit became the Lower Lake. A state historical marker at the Arty R. Tapp Overlook calls it the last major hydraulic fill dam built in the United States. Behind it, 1,545 square miles of north Mississippi hill country drain toward a flood pool that tops out at 281.4 feet, the crest of the 400 foot spillway, where the lake would cover about 58,500 acres.
The level follows a Corps guide curve, not a fixed pool. The lake bottoms out at the 236.0 foot conservation pool by 1 December and holds there until mid January. Under the 1989 refinement it is then allowed to climb about 5 feet more by 1 March than the older 1981 plan permitted, reaches its highest target in May near 260 feet, where it spreads over roughly 32,000 acres, and is held there through the end of July if rain allows. From August on the Corps lets it down slowly again. That swing of about 24 feet is why ramps come and go through the year. The floor was 234.4 feet until 1967, when it was raised to 236.0 to ease hazardous rapids in the Little Tallahatchie above Teckville. Releases are capped at about 6,350 cubic feet per second because of homes along the river roughly six miles below the dam, so a wet spring can hold the lake well above the curve for weeks.
Crappie is the reason most people launch here. In the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks 2025 angler survey, 79 percent of Sardis anglers were fishing for crappie, and 91 percent of the crappie caught went to anglers running live sonar. On the main lake crappie must be 12 inches, with 10 per angler a day and no more than 25 per boat with three or more anglers aboard. State biologists say the fall drawdown lets vegetation take over the exposed mudflats, which becomes fish cover once the water comes back up. Below the dam, the Lower Lake and spillway channel fish differently: crappie there depend on releases and bite mostly in winter and early spring, catfish in summer. John W. Kyle State Park sits at the north end of the dam, and the reservoir lies about 12 miles northwest of Oxford.
Sardis Lake — frequently asked
What is Sardis Lake's full pool?
The summer target is about 260 feet, where the upper lake covers roughly 32,000 acres. That is not the top of the reservoir. Sardis is a flood control lake, and the flood pool runs up to 281.4 feet, the spillway crest, with about 58,500 acres under water. Between 260 and 281.4 feet the Corps is holding floodwater it will release as fast as the Little Tallahatchie below the dam can take it.
What is Sardis Lake's record high level?
285.8 feet on 28 April 1973, about 4.4 feet over the spillway crest, according to the Corps water control manual and the National Weather Service. That flood sent water over the Sardis spillway for the first time since the dam was built. It went over again in 1983 and in 1991, when it ran over the spillway for 72 days. The gauge on this page shows only a recent window, so its 2021 high of 273.99 feet is not the all time record.
What is the lowest Sardis Lake has been?
The Corps lists 228.9 feet on 3 October 1941 as the minimum of record, from the first years of operation before the dam was finished in 1942. In modern operations the lake is not meant to go below the 236.0 foot conservation pool, which it reaches each winter. The gauge on this page shows a recent low of 235.82 feet in 2020, just under that winter floor.
When does Sardis Lake draw down, and when does it refill?
Under the guide curve the lake is held near its summer level through July, then lowered slowly from August until it reaches the 236.0 foot conservation pool by 1 December. It stays there until about mid January, then begins rising so that about 5 feet of extra water is in the lake by 1 March and reaches its peak target in May. During the 15 April to 31 May spawning period the Corps tries not to draw it below 252.5 feet.
Which Sardis boat ramps work at low water?
The Corps publishes a usable range for every ramp. At winter pool around 236 feet, Engineer Point's low water ramp, Coles Point and Pat's Bluff all reach down to 234 feet, and Clear Creek reaches 237.25. Teckville No. 4 and No. 5 bottom out at 238.5 and Beach Point at 239. Ramps such as Graham Lake and Wyatts Crossing No. 1, whose lowest usable levels are near 264 feet, are for high water only.
What are the crappie limits on Sardis Lake?
On the main reservoir crappie must be at least 12 inches long, the limit is 10 per angler per day, and a boat with three or more anglers may keep no more than 25. These rules do not cover the spillway or the Lower Lake, where MDWFP directs anglers to its Outdoor Digest. Each angler may fish no more than four poles on the reservoir, with no more than two hooks or lures per pole.
What is the Lower Lake at Sardis?
It is the borrow pit left when the dredge Pontotoc pumped soil to build the dam, a lake of roughly 425 acres below the spillway that the upper lake's level does not control. It depends on releases from the dam instead. When the Corps shut off releases for outlet inspections in summer 2022, the Lower Lake dropped about 4 to 4.5 feet and the beaches and docks there were closed.
Other lakes near Sardis Lake
See current levels for all 5 Mississippi lakes and reservoirs →
Add this gauge to your website
Run a marina, boat rental, guide service, or real-estate site on Sardis Lake? Put this free live-level widget on your page — just copy and paste the code: