Truman Lake Water Level
Truman Lake is at 705.26 ft today (Oct 6), 0.74 ft below its 706 ft full pool, down 0.02 ft this week.
Missouri · Osage River
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Water level history
About Truman Lake
Truman Lake is a reservoir on the Osage River in Missouri, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 706 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Truman Lake's water level
Truman Lake is the largest flood control reservoir in Missouri, and its level is best read as a measure of how much Osage River water the Corps of Engineers is holding back. Harry S. Truman Dam stands at Warsaw, below an 11,500 square mile drainage area, and pairs a 5,000 foot earthen embankment with a concrete section about 126 feet above the riverbed. Normal pool sits at 706 feet, where the lake covers roughly 55,600 acres and stores about 1.18 million acre-feet. The top of the flood pool is 739.6 feet, where storage reaches about 5.19 million acre-feet and the lake can spread past 200,000 acres. That leaves roughly four million acre-feet, and more than 33 vertical feet, set aside for floods on the lower Osage, Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Above that is still more room: the Corps lists the top of surcharge at 751.1 feet and the top of the dam at 756.
Because the flood pool is so deep, the gauge here swings in a way few Missouri lakes can match. A wet spring can push the lake 15 or 20 feet above normal, and USGS daily records show it passing 735 feet in 1993 and again in 1994. The record came in 2019. May of that year brought the second highest monthly inflow in project history, the Corps began releasing on May 28, and on May 31 the lake passed its 1986 record of 738.72 feet. It crested at 739.82 feet on June 3, above the top of the flood pool, while releases ran about 40,000 cubic feet per second and were planned to climb to 60,000 or 70,000 once the Missouri River crest passed Hermann. Every gallon released goes straight into Lake of the Ozarks, whose western arm begins just below the dam, and Ameren's Bagnell Dam has to pass it along because that lake has no room to store floodwater.
The project was authorized in 1954 as Kaysinger Bluff Dam and Reservoir, construction started in August 1964, Congress renamed it for Harry Truman in 1970, and the dam was completed in 1979. Roads, towns and cemeteries across Benton, Henry, Hickory and St. Clair counties had to be relocated. The powerhouse holds six reversible units rated at about 160 megawatts, built so water could be pumped back up from Lake of the Ozarks, though that pump-back function went unused for years because of environmental and technical problems. The plant also remotely runs the Stockton and Mark Twain power plants. Some 8,800 acres of timber were left standing in the lake for fish habitat, and the Missouri Department of Conservation manages more than 55,000 acres around it. Warsaw bills itself as the spoonbill capital of the world, and MDC reports a strong paddlefish population along with good white crappie, blue catfish, hybrid striped bass and walleye.
Truman Lake — frequently asked
What is Truman Lake's normal pool level?
706 feet above sea level is the multipurpose pool, which the Corps lists precisely as 706.02 feet. At that level the lake covers about 55,600 acres and holds roughly 1.18 million acre-feet. Anything above 706 is floodwater being stored on purpose, and the Corps releases it downstream through Lake of the Ozarks as river conditions allow.
What is the record high at Truman Lake?
739.82 feet on June 3, 2019, about 34 feet above normal pool and slightly above the 739.6 foot top of the flood pool. The lake broke its previous record of 738.72 feet, set in 1986, on May 31, 2019. A Corps of Engineers post gave the peak as 739.7 feet on June 5, while local news reported the official crest as 739.82 on June 3. The recent figures on this page's gauge cover only the last few years, so they sit well below this mark.
Why is Truman Lake so high?
Truman exists to catch floods. Its pool between 706 and 739.6 feet holds about four million acre-feet, and the Corps fills it whenever heavy rain in the Osage basin arrives while the Missouri or Mississippi downstream is already high. Releases are held back until those rivers can take the water, so the lake can stay well above normal for weeks after the rain stops.
How long does it take Truman Lake to get back to normal after a flood?
It depends on how much room the downstream rivers have. After the 2019 record, the lake was still around 720 feet in early August, falling about half a foot a day, and it was expected to need four to six more weeks under ideal conditions. Truman State Park Marina ran customers by shuttle for 76 days that summer while ramps and docks were flooded.
How does Truman Lake affect Lake of the Ozarks?
The Osage River leaving Truman Dam flows directly into the western arm of Lake of the Ozarks east of Warsaw. Lake of the Ozarks is a hydropower lake behind Ameren Missouri's Bagnell Dam, completed in 1931, and it has no flood storage of its own. When Truman releases heavy flows, Bagnell generally has to match them; in 2019 Ameren planned to raise releases to 70,000 cubic feet per second to keep pace.
What are the crappie rules on Truman Lake?
Truman has special regulations: a 9 inch minimum length and a daily limit of 15 crappie. MDC's 2026 prospects report a strong group of white crappie from the 2024 spawn that should pass 9 inches in 2026, with good numbers of 10 inch and larger fish across the lake. Black crappie are down because recent years lacked the high spring water they need to spawn well.
Is there standing timber in Truman Lake?
Yes. About 8,800 acres of timber were left standing when the lake filled, to provide fish habitat, and it still shapes how people fish and boat here. MDC notes that crappie hold on timber and brush in summer, and the department is adding brush piles throughout the lake in a project running from 2025 through 2027.
Flow released below Truman Lake
This gauge reads the water leaving the dam, which is the number to check for fishing, paddling and downstream conditions. Live flow is tracked on riverlvl.com.
Other lakes near Truman Lake
- Wappapello LakeMO
- Table Rock LakeMO
- Blue Springs LakeMO
- Stockton LakeMO
- Bull Shoals LakeAR/MO
- Smithville LakeMO
See current levels for all 12 Missouri lakes and reservoirs →
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