Wilson Lake Water Level
Wilson Lake is at 506.86 ft today (Oct 6), 0.14 ft below its 507 ft full pool, down 0.08 ft this week.
Alabama · Tennessee River
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Water level history
About Wilson Lake
Wilson Lake is a reservoir on the Tennessee River in Alabama, operated by Tennessee Valley Authority. Its full summer pool sits at 507 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and update hourly.
Understanding Wilson Lake's water level
Wilson Lake covers the stretch of the Tennessee River that used to be Muscle Shoals, the worst obstacle on the whole river. Between Decatur and Florence the Tennessee once fell 134 feet in 37 miles, and the last 16 miles of that run, where it dropped 100 feet over irregular rock ledges and shallow, turbulent pockets of current, were the Shoals proper. Two canals were eventually built to get boats around them, but TVA's own history calls them inadequate, expensive to maintain and of little lasting benefit. Wilson Dam finished the job by putting the rapids underwater. It stands 137 feet high and runs 4,541 feet across the river at Tennessee River mile 259.4, between Florence on the north bank and Muscle Shoals on the south. The lake backs up about 15 miles to the foot of Wheeler Dam and spreads over roughly 15,500 acres with 166 miles of shoreline, on the Colbert and Lauderdale county sides of the river.
The dam is older than TVA. The National Defense Act of June 3, 1916 authorized a power dam and nitrate plants at Muscle Shoals, because the country feared German naval operations would cut off the nitrates needed for explosives. The War Department built U.S. Nitrate Plant No. 2 between February and October 1918, powered by the new Wilson Steam Plant, and nearly 18,000 workers started on the dam that same year. The war ended before any of it produced. Congress stopped funding the dam in 1920, work resumed in 1922, and TVA dates its completion to 1925. In the meantime the site became a national argument. Henry Ford offered $5 million in 1921 for the nitrate plants and the dam's power, promising an industrial city, while Nebraska Senator George Norris spent years fighting for public ownership. Ford withdrew in 1924, and the property passed to TVA on May 18, 1933. Wilson Dam was named a National Historic Landmark in 1966.
TVA designed Wilson as a run of river project. Its flood storage is only 50,500 acre-feet, so the lake holds within a narrow band of elevations. TVA's 100-year flood elevation at the dam is 508.0 feet, just a foot above the 507 feet this page uses as full pool, and in the TVA data behind the gauge the lake has stayed between about 504.8 and 507.6 feet since 2024. The action is in the powerhouse and the lock. Wilson's 21 generating units give it 663 megawatts of summer net dependable capacity, the largest conventional hydro plant in the TVA system; only the Raccoon Mountain pumped storage plant can produce more hydroelectric power. The main lock, 110 by 600 feet, lifts boats between 93 and 100 feet, the highest single lift east of the Rocky Mountains, and about 3,700 vessels pass the locks in an average year.
Wilson Lake — frequently asked
What is Wilson Lake's full pool elevation?
This page uses 507 feet above sea level as full pool. For context, TVA puts the 100-year flood elevation at Wilson Dam at 508.0 feet, rising to 510.6 feet at the upper end of the lake just below Wheeler Dam. In the TVA operating data shown on the gauge, the recent high was 507.61 feet in 2024, so the lake rarely sits far above the 507 foot mark.
How much does Wilson Lake's water level change?
Not much compared with TVA's tributary lakes. Wilson was built as a run of river project with only 50,500 acre-feet of flood storage, so it passes water through rather than holding it for months. Since 2024 the TVA data behind the gauge shows a range of roughly three feet, from 504.76 feet at the low to 507.61 feet at the high, both in 2024. Those are recent figures, not records for the life of the dam.
Why was Wilson Lock closed in 2024 and 2025?
The Corps of Engineers closed the main lock on September 25, 2024 after finding cracks in the downstream miter gates and the pintle assemblies they pivot on. The repair cost about $20 million, and TVA machinists fabricated new pintles. Tows used the smaller auxiliary lock one barge at a time in the meantime, which stretched lockage times for larger tows. The main chamber reopened on July 2, 2025, with the backlog expected to take about two weeks to clear.
How big is Wilson Lock and how high is the lift?
The main chamber, opened in 1959, is 110 feet wide and 600 feet long, and it lifts boats between 93 and 100 feet, the highest single lift lock east of the Rocky Mountains. Beside it is the auxiliary lock, two 60 by 300 foot chambers that work in tandem. The original 1920s lock at Wilson was also a double lift, with a combined lift of about 90 feet. TVA owns the locks and the Corps operates them.
Where do people catch smallmouth bass on Wilson Lake?
At the upper end, in the swift water below Wheeler Dam. Alabama's fisheries biologists say smallmouth concentrate in that tailwater in spring and fall, and anglers drift live threadfin shad, which locals call yellowtails, for trophy fish. The same water gives up hybrid and striped bass in spring, sauger in winter, and blue and channel catfish in summer. There is a bank fishing platform just below Wheeler Dam.
When was Wilson Dam built and why?
Construction began in 1918 under the War Department to power nitrate plants for World War I explosives, as authorized by the National Defense Act of 1916. The war ended first, funding lapsed in 1920, and work resumed in 1922. TVA gives 1925 as the completion year, though some sources say 1924. After a decade of fighting over Henry Ford's bid for the site, Congress handed the dam to TVA in May 1933.
Is Wilson Dam TVA's biggest hydroelectric plant?
It is TVA's largest conventional hydro plant, with 21 generating units and a summer net dependable capacity of 663 megawatts, enough for more than 380,000 homes and businesses by TVA's count. Only Raccoon Mountain, the pumped storage plant near Chattanooga, can generate more hydroelectric power in the TVA system.
Other lakes near Wilson Lake
- Woodruff Lake (Robert F. Henry)AL
- Wheeler LakeAL
- Bankhead LakeAL
- West Point LakeGA/AL
- Dannelly Reservoir (Millers Ferry)AL
- Weiss LakeAL
See current levels for all 21 Alabama lakes and reservoirs →
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