Lake Sharpe Water Level
Lake Sharpe is at 1,420.64 ft today (Oct 31), 2.36 ft below its 1,423 ft full pool, down 0.20 ft this week.
South Dakota · Missouri River
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Water level history
About Lake Sharpe
Lake Sharpe is a reservoir on the Missouri River in South Dakota, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 1423 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Lake Sharpe's water level
Lake Sharpe barely moves, and that is by design. Big Bend Dam sits near Fort Thompson, and the pool behind it backs up about 80 miles to the tailwater of Oahe Dam at Pierre. Most of the water entering Lake Sharpe is whatever Oahe releases, and it reaches the Big Bend intakes in about 12 hours. The Corps' water control manual sets a minimum operating pool of 1,415 feet and a top of normal operating pool of 1,422 feet, and the Reservoir Control Center aims to hold the lake between 1,420 and 1,421 feet. Inside that band the pool rises and falls slightly with daily and weekly swings in power demand, and the manual calls the fluctuations minor. That is why the gauge panel on this page spans less than two and a half feet, from 1,419.29 to 1,421.7 feet, while Oahe and Fort Peck upstream can move tens of feet.
Big Bend Dam takes its name from the Big Bend of the Missouri, a meander that loops almost completely back on itself. The loop runs more than twenty miles, but the neck across it is only a little more than a mile and a half wide; early travelers called it the Grand Detour. Construction began in 1959, the river was closed off in July 1963, the first power went out in October 1964, and the dam was dedicated on 15 September 1966. It was the last of the six main stem dams to be finished. The reservoir flooded bottomland on both reservations along its shores. A 2006 GAO report counts 6,179 acres and 27 families displaced on the Crow Creek Reservation and 14,299 acres and 62 families on Lower Brule. Most of the western shore lies within Lower Brule land, and Crow Creek lies along the east side.
The upper end of the lake is where the trouble collects. The Bad River enters at Fort Pierre carrying about 2.2 million tons of sediment a year, and the manual traces 52 percent of the lake's sediment to it. The resulting delta is moving downstream; by 1997 the main channel near upper Farm Island at Pierre had up to six feet of new deposition. In winter, ice jams on that delta can force the Corps to cut Oahe releases to keep water out of homes in Pierre and Fort Pierre. State fisheries managers note that silt has made stretches below the Bad River shallow and hazardous for boats. Walleye are the main draw. In the 2015 summer creel survey anglers caught about 305,774 walleye and kept 116,826, and roughly 65 percent of anglers were targeting them.
Lake Sharpe — frequently asked
What is Lake Sharpe's full pool?
This page uses 1,423 feet, which the Corps manual describes as the top of the exclusive flood control zone. The working range is lower. The manual sets the top of the normal operating pool at 1,422 feet and the minimum operating pool at 1,415 feet, and the Corps tries to keep the lake between 1,420 and 1,421 feet. Water above 1,422 feet goes into the exclusive flood control space, which had been used only once, in June 1991, when the manual was written.
Why does the level of Lake Sharpe stay so steady?
Big Bend is a small pool sitting between two big ones. Oahe Dam supplies nearly all of its inflow, and Big Bend passes that water on toward Fort Randall. Lake Sharpe has only about 180,000 acre feet of flood storage, so the Corps holds it in a narrow band of 1,420 to 1,421 feet and lets it rise and fall slightly with daily and weekly power demand rather than storing water from season to season the way Oahe does.
When was Big Bend Dam built?
Construction started in 1959. The river was diverted through the powerhouse on 24 July 1963, and the reservoir began filling that month. It reached the normal operating level of 1,420 feet in late 1965. The first power was delivered in October 1964, and dedication ceremonies were held on 15 September 1966. Big Bend was the last of the six Missouri River main stem dams to be completed. Its eight turbines feed peak power into the Missouri basin grid.
Has the Big Bend Dam spillway ever been used?
Only once. For almost 50 years the spillway gates stayed shut, and on 3 June 2011 the Corps opened them for the first time during the Missouri River flood. By mid June the powerhouse was passing about 85,000 cubic feet per second and the spillway another 65,000, about 150,000 in total. The previous record release was 74,000 in 1997. At Pierre that same month the river stood nearly six feet above flood stage.
What causes flooding at Pierre and Fort Pierre?
Two things, both tied to the upper end of the lake. The Bad River drops heavy sediment where it enters at Fort Pierre, building a delta that is moving downstream toward Farm Island. In winter, ice can jam on that delta, and the Corps then has to cut Oahe powerhouse releases to keep water out of homes in both towns, often when power is most needed. In 2011 the problem was sheer volume: Oahe releases passed 100,000 cubic feet per second, and crews spent days raising levees for both towns.
How is the walleye fishing on Lake Sharpe?
South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks calls it exceptional and a consistent producer of quality walleye. Fish usually reach the 15 inch (381 mm) minimum in their fourth summer, and between 2013 and 2015 they reached it at age three. The daily limit is four, with a 15 inch minimum from September through June and only one fish 20 inches or longer. Condition rises and falls with the supply of gizzard shad, along with rainbow smelt washed through Oahe Dam.
Which Lake Sharpe boat ramps have trouble at low water?
The lake has 25 ramps, four of them run by the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. According to the state's 2017 to 2021 management plan, DeGrey was unusable, and Antelope Creek and Cedar Creek could be unusable depending on the water elevation. Around Pierre the bigger factor is Oahe releases rather than the lake level itself, since high or changing releases can change the water level there sharply and cut off some shore access.
Other lakes near Lake Sharpe
- Lake Francis CaseSD
- Shadehill ReservoirSD
- Lewis and Clark LakeSD/NE
- Pactola ReservoirSD
- Lake OaheSD/ND
See current levels for all 6 South Dakota lakes and reservoirs →
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