Toledo Bend Reservoir Water Level
Toledo Bend Lake is at 168.21 ft today (Oct 6), 3.79 ft below its 172 ft full pool, up 0.08 ft this week.
Texas & Louisiana · Sabine River
Sponsor Toledo Bend Reservoir
Put your marina, real-estate, or local business in front of everyone checking this lake's level. One exclusive sponsor per lake.
Cancel anytime · Questions?
Water level history
About Toledo Bend Reservoir
Toledo Bend Reservoir is a reservoir on the Sabine River in Texas & Louisiana, operated by Sabine River Authority. It's one of the largest man-made lakes in the U.S. Its full summer pool sits at 172 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the Texas Water Development Board and update daily.
Understanding Toledo Bend Reservoir's water level
Toledo Bend is the largest man-made lake in the South, about 185,000 acres at its normal pool of 172 feet, and the largest reservoir in the country built without federal money. The Sabine River Authority of Texas and the Sabine River Authority of Louisiana built it together on the state line, starting the dam in 1964, beginning to impound water in 1966 and putting the powerhouse on line in 1969. Each side sits two members on the joint operating board, and Texas holds rights to half of the conservation storage. The earthen dam runs about 11,250 feet counting its saddle dikes and stands roughly 112 feet high, backing water some 65 miles upriver toward Logansport. Under its federal hydropower license, water supply is the primary purpose, with hydroelectric generation and recreation behind it. There is no flood storage set aside above normal pool, and the authorities have said plainly that Toledo Bend was not designed as a flood control project.
The level moves on a short leash. The two Kaplan turbines, licensed for 81 megawatts, are the main outlet, and the authorities only run them when the lake is above a monthly threshold between 168 and 171 feet; below 168 feet generation stops except under specific conditions in the FERC license. At the top end, the eleven tainter gates, each 40 feet wide and 28 feet tall, start opening at 172.5 feet, or 172.2 feet if the powerhouse is down for repair. In a normal year the lake swings only about three feet, so most of what you see between 168 and 172 is the balance of summer evaporation against generation and spring inflow. When a dry summer pushes it below 168, the turbines mostly sit idle and the lake waits for rain.
That short leash failed only once. In March 2016, 20 to 25 inches of rain fell over roughly 31 hours on parts of the basin, and the lake climbed to a record 174.36 feet on March 10. Operators opened all nine working spillway gates, and releases peaked near 207,000 cubic feet per second, about twice the average flow over Niagara Falls. The Sabine flooded homes downstream and closed Interstate 10 at the state line. Hundreds of landowners sued; the state court suits were dismissed, and in May 2026 the Fifth Circuit affirmed judgment for the river authorities, holding that the landowners had not shown the dam, rather than the storm, caused the extra flooding. The spill also tore up rip-rap below the spillway, a repair that grew to about $9 million and kept the lake drawn down in 2018 and 2019, bottoming near 164.8 feet in October 2019.
Toledo Bend Reservoir — frequently asked
What is Toledo Bend's full pool?
Normal full pool is 172 feet above mean sea level. At that level the lake covers about 185,000 acres and stores roughly 4.48 million acre-feet across a shoreline of around 1,200 miles. The spillway gates begin opening at 172.5 feet, so readings a few tenths above 172 are normal after rain, while anything above 173 means the gates are passing a lot of water.
What is the record high level at Toledo Bend?
174.36 feet, reached on March 10, 2016, after 20 to 25 inches of rain fell over parts of the Sabine basin in about 31 hours. Operators opened all nine working spillway gates and releases peaked around 207,000 cubic feet per second. Before that, the highest daily reading in the USGS record since 1986 was about 173.9 feet in May 1989.
What is the lowest Toledo Bend has been?
The lowest daily level in the USGS gauge record, which begins in 1986, is 159.51 feet on November 19, 2011, during the Texas drought that year, about twelve and a half feet below full pool. The 2006 drought took it to about 161.5 feet in October of that year. By late March 2012 the lake had recovered to about 171.3 feet.
Why is Toledo Bend low right now?
Late summer lows in the 167 to 169 foot range are typical after hot, dry months. Evaporation off 185,000 acres is heavy, and a normal year only moves the lake about three feet. Generation shuts down once the level falls below a monthly threshold between 168 and 171 feet, and below 168 it is allowed only under special license conditions, so the lake mostly holds steady until fall and winter rains raise it.
Is Toledo Bend safe to boat when the water is low?
The marked boat lanes are generally considered safe down to 168 feet. Below that, stumps and standing timber come up through the cutting depth, and some lanes go dry or nearly dry. In the 2011 drought, 47 miles of the north to south boat lane were recut to be safe down to 163 feet. The Texas side buoy lines were never cut for low water and are especially hazardous. After a quick rise, dried logs and limbs float free.
Does Toledo Bend provide flood control?
Not by design. Its federal license lists water supply as the primary purpose, with hydropower and recreation secondary, and the lake normally stays within a few feet of full pool. When a big storm fills it, the spillway has to pass the water downstream. Downstream landowners sued over the 2016 releases, and the courts ruled for the river authorities, finding the storm rather than the dam caused the flooding.
Is Toledo Bend a good bass lake?
Bassmaster ranked it the number one bass lake in the country in 2015 and again in 2016, when 139 certified bass over ten pounds were caught in a single twelve month span. Texas Parks and Wildlife stocked Florida largemouth nearly every year from 1990 to 2021 and has stocked ShareLunker offspring since 2022. Its 2023 survey found stable, desirable bass size structure, with bass drawing 65 to 85 percent of angling effort.
Other lakes near Toledo Bend Reservoir
- Lake TravisTX
- Lake TexomaTX/OK
- Waco LakeTX
- Stillhouse Hollow LakeTX
- Lake WhitneyTX
- Somerville LakeTX
See current levels for all 27 Texas lakes and reservoirs →
Add this gauge to your website
Run a marina, boat rental, guide service, or real-estate site on Toledo Bend Reservoir? Put this free live-level widget on your page — just copy and paste the code: