Lake Seminole Water Level
Lake Seminole is at 76.97 ft today (Oct 31), 0.03 ft below its 77 ft full pool, up 0.31 ft this week.
Georgia & Florida · Chattahoochee & Flint Rivers
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Water level history
About Lake Seminole
Lake Seminole is a reservoir on the Chattahoochee & Flint Rivers in Georgia & Florida, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It sits where the Chattahoochee and Flint meet to form the Apalachicola. Its full summer pool sits at 77 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Lake Seminole's water level
Lake Seminole is where the Chattahoochee and the Flint end. The two rivers join inside the lake, and about a thousand feet below their original confluence the Corps of Engineers built Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam, near the town of Chattahoochee, Florida. What leaves the dam is the Apalachicola River. Congress authorized the project in the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1946, ground was broken on 1 October 1947, the dam was finished in 1952 and the lake opened in 1957. The Mobile District counts 17,164 square miles of drainage above the dam, split almost evenly: 8,708 from the Chattahoochee and 8,456 from the Flint. The lock chamber is 82 by 450 feet with a maximum lift of 33 feet, and three Kaplan turbines rated at 14.45 megawatts apiece have been turning out power since 1957. About 80 percent of the 37,500 acre lake lies in Georgia.
Anyone watching the gauge here should expect a nearly flat line. The Mobile District's pertinent data puts normal pool at 77.0 feet (NGVD29), with a minimum operating level of 76.5 and a maximum operating level of 77.5, so the ordinary working range is a single foot. An emergency drawdown goes only to 76.0, and the highest the Corps will carry the pool outside a flood is 77.8. Beyond that, water runs over a 1,634 foot fixed crest spillway set at 79.0 feet, alongside a gated section with sixteen vertical lift gates. The reason for the tight band is storage. The lake holds about 367,000 acre-feet at normal pool, but it is shallow, averaging around ten feet deep, and University of Florida extension notes that it does not have enough storage to support the Apalachicola's required flows by itself. That water comes from Lanier, West Point and Walter F. George upstream, and what Woodruff releases reflects how the whole system is being run.
That downstream flow sits at the center of the long fight among Georgia, Florida and Alabama. Under the Corps' Revised Interim Operating Plan, Woodruff releases drop to 5,000 cubic feet per second when combined storage in the upstream reservoirs falls into Zone 4, and to 4,500 in the drought zone, floors meant to protect the threatened Gulf sturgeon and purple bankclimber and the endangered fat threeridge mussel downstream. The Corps signed the record of decision for its updated ACF master water control manual on 30 March 2017, and Alabama sued within a week. Florida took Georgia to the Supreme Court in a separate 2013 suit blaming upstream water use for the collapse of the Apalachicola Bay oyster fishery; the Court sent it back 5 to 4 in 2018, then ruled unanimously for Georgia on 1 April 2021. On the lake itself, Florida biologists say hydrilla has spread to nearly 70 percent coverage since the early 1990s, and much of the reservoir is flooded timber.
Lake Seminole — frequently asked
What is Lake Seminole's full pool?
The Corps lists normal pool at 77.0 feet above sea level (NGVD29), where the lake covers about 37,500 acres and holds roughly 367,000 acre-feet. The operating range runs from 76.5 to 77.5 feet, and the Corps will not hold the pool above 77.8 except during a flood. The fixed crest spillway beside the gates sits at 79.0 feet, so water starts pouring over it only when a flood pushes the lake past that height.
Why does Lake Seminole's level hardly change?
Woodruff is not a storage dam in the way Lanier or West Point are. Its whole operating band is one foot, 76.5 to 77.5, and the lake is shallow, averaging about ten feet with a maximum near thirty. Water flowing in from the Chattahoochee and Flint is passed through to the Apalachicola, and the releases Florida's river needs are backed by storage in the upstream reservoirs rather than by drawing Seminole down.
How much water must Jim Woodruff Dam release?
Under the Revised Interim Operating Plan, when combined storage in Lanier, West Point and Walter F. George falls into Zone 4, releases to the Apalachicola are cut to 5,000 cubic feet per second, and to 4,500 when the system is in the drought zone. Those minimums protect the Gulf sturgeon, the purple bankclimber and the fat threeridge mussel. When the upstream lakes are fuller, required releases vary by season.
Do the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers meet in Lake Seminole?
Yes. Both the Corps and Florida's wildlife commission describe the lake as the junction of the two rivers. The original confluence, where the Apalachicola began, is now under the lake about a thousand feet upstream of Jim Woodruff Dam. Of the 17,164 square miles draining to the dam, 8,708 come down the Chattahoochee and 8,456 down the Flint.
Is Lake Seminole hard to navigate by boat?
It can be. The Corps warns boaters about submerged stumps, logs and rocks and says depths vary from place to place, and much of the reservoir is flooded timber. Hurricane Michael in 2018 added downed trees to the small boat canals, and the Corps sent amphibious excavators to clear them starting in December 2022. The lock at the dam runs by appointment only, so call the Corps before planning a trip down to the Apalachicola.
How much of Lake Seminole is covered by hydrilla?
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says hydrilla has expanded to nearly 70 percent coverage of the lake since the early 1990s. The Corps' plant management plan says as much as 60 percent of the lake has at times been affected by aquatic vegetation, and it also lists water hyacinth, variable leaf and Eurasian watermilfoil and giant cutgrass as problem plants. The Corps has worked under a Hydrilla Action Plan since June 1998.
Can I fish Lake Seminole with a Florida license?
Partly. About 80 percent of the lake is in Georgia, but by agreement Florida-licensed anglers can fish south and west of a line from Chattahoochee Park on the east bank through Navigation Mile 3.0 on the Flint to Mile 6.4 on the Chattahoochee. Georgia's limits apply: ten black bass of at least 12 inches, 15 striped, white and sunshine bass with no more than two over 22 inches, and 30 crappie.
Other lakes near Lake Seminole
- Lake SinclairGA
- Richard B. Russell LakeGA/SC
- Walter F. George Reservoir (Lake Eufaula)GA/AL
- Lake OconeeGA
- West Point LakeGA/AL
- Lake NottelyGA
See current levels for all 16 Georgia lakes and reservoirs →
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