Lake Wylie Water Level
Lake Wylie is at 566.90 ft today (Oct 6), 2.50 ft below its 569.4 ft full pool.
North Carolina & South Carolina · Catawba River
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Water level history
About Lake Wylie
Lake Wylie is a reservoir on the Catawba River in North Carolina & South Carolina, operated by Duke Energy. Its full summer pool sits at 569.4 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from Duke Energy and reflect the latest reported level.
Understanding Lake Wylie's water level
Duke Energy reports Lake Wylie on a local datum where 100.0 feet means full pond, and that mark corresponds to 569.4 feet above mean sea level, the line below which Duke manages the shoreline under its federal license. This page converts Duke's reading to sea level, so a Duke figure of 96.7 feet shows here as about 566.1 feet, roughly three feet down from full. Duke's normal operating band here runs from 94.0 to 101.0 feet, with a target of 97 feet. Under the Catawba-Wateree license (FERC No. 2232), the summer target for May 1 through October 1 steps up to 97.5 feet once the Wateree Dam modification is done or after December 31, 2025, whichever comes later. The Marine Commission lists 93 feet as the minimum level, and the drought rules allow the lake to be drawn as low as 92.6 feet in the deeper stages.
The lake began as Catawba Lake. At six in the morning on March 30, 1904, the first electricity generated on the Catawba River left the India Hook shoals and ran to the Victoria Cotton Mill in Rock Hill. The Catawba Power Company behind it was organized by Dr. W. Gill Wylie, a physician, and his brother Robert, and it was a patient of Dr. Wylie's, James B. Duke, who brought in the money that grew into the Southern Power Company and later Duke Power. In 1924 Southern Power raised the dam and built a new Catawba Hydroelectric Station, which opened in August 1925; the new dam was set on the old foundation, and the original powerhouse was filled with concrete and absorbed into it. That enlargement spread the lake to roughly its current footprint of 325 miles of shoreline. In October 1960 the station and the lake were renamed for Dr. Wylie, and locals who had simply called it the river started calling it Lake Wylie.
Lake Wylie is a working lake with a lot of plumbing. It supplies drinking water to Rock Hill and Belmont, and it has long provided cooling water for Duke's Catawba Nuclear Station on its southwestern shore in York County and for the Allen Steam Station at the north end. Allen, a coal plant that had run since 1957, retired at the end of 2024, and Duke has put batteries on the site. The South Fork Catawba River enters from Gaston County, and its old confluence with the main river now lies underwater near the state line. Coves feel the effects of that busy watershed: the U.S. Geological Survey found that sedimentation in the Crowders Creek cove cut its water storage by 90 percent between 1973 and 1999, making a boat ramp there unusable. Low water shows up at the ramps first, and Duke closes ramps when depth at the end of the ramp drops below three feet.
Lake Wylie — frequently asked
What is Lake Wylie's full pond level?
Full pond is 569.4 feet above mean sea level, which Duke Energy reports as 100.0 feet on its local lake datum. Every level you see for Lake Wylie from Duke or the National Weather Service gauge at the dam uses that 100 foot scale, so subtract the reading from 100 to see how many feet the lake is below full. The normal operating range is 94 to 101 feet. The level on this page is already converted to feet above sea level.
What is the normal target level for Lake Wylie?
Duke's target is 97 feet on the local datum, three feet below full pond. The 2023 license update raises the summer target, May 1 through October 1, to 97.5 feet once the Wateree Dam modification is complete or after December 31, 2025, whichever is later. In practice the lake is usually held a few feet below full, leaving room to absorb inflow from the upstream reservoirs.
Why is Lake Wylie low?
Usually because the whole Catawba-Wateree basin is short on water. The Low Inflow Protocol watches storage in the eleven project reservoirs, four tributary streamflows and the U.S. Drought Monitor. In Stage 1, Wylie's minimum drops from 94 to 93 feet and required releases fall from 1,100 to 860 cubic feet per second; in Stages 2 through 4 the minimum is 92.6 feet. Stage 1 was triggered November 1, 2023, and the basin reached Stage 2 on May 1, 2026.
How high did Lake Wylie get during Hurricane Helene?
Not very, by its own gauge. The National Weather Service crest record for the Catawba River at Lake Wylie Dam shows 99.97 feet on September 28, 2024, just under full pond, because Duke passed the water through. The flooding came below the dam: a river gauge about five miles northeast of Rock Hill reached a record crest of 24.52 feet and flooded the Pump House Restaurant.
What is the highest level recorded at Lake Wylie Dam?
The top entry in the National Weather Service crest history for the Lake Wylie Dam gauge is 100.11 feet on March 20, 2003, about a tenth of a foot over full pond. Other crests near 100 feet came in March 2007, May 2013, and September 2004. Action stage at the gauge is 100 feet, minor flood 102, moderate 105 and major 110.
Who is Lake Wylie named after?
Dr. W. Gill Wylie, a physician who with his brother Robert organized the Catawba Power Company, which put the first Catawba River hydro plant online at India Hook shoals in 1904. James B. Duke, a patient of Dr. Wylie's, financed the expansion that became Duke Power. The lake was called Catawba Lake until October 1960, when it and the hydro station were renamed in his honor.
Does Charlotte get its drinking water from Lake Wylie?
No. Charlotte Water draws from Mountain Island Lake and Lake Norman upstream. Lake Wylie's drinking water customers are Rock Hill in South Carolina and Belmont in North Carolina. The lake also supplies cooling water for Catawba Nuclear Station, whose Unit 1 was licensed in 1985 and now holds a renewed license running to 2043.
Flow released below Lake Wylie
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 Lake Wylie
- Lake ChatugeGA/NC
- Lake NormanNC
- Falls LakeNC
- Kerr Lake (Buggs Island Lake)VA/NC
- Fontana LakeNC
- Jordan LakeNC
See current levels for all 11 North Carolina lakes and reservoirs →
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