Current Kerr Lake Level
The chart above shows the current lake level and the four-day trend.
The chart below, provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, shows the level of Kerr Lake over the calendar year. The dark blue line is the actual lake level this year, with the dotted line showing the forecast for the rest of the year. The light blue line is last year. And the green line shows the Corps target lake levels.
Here’s how the Army Corps explains how they try to keep the lake, considering the needs of recreation, power production, flood control, fish preservation, and pollution control.
In March and April, the Corps raises the lake level gradually from the winter elevations of 295.5 to elevation 302 feet mean sea level. This reserve water is then released in the late spring to assist the striped bass swimming upstream to their spawning grounds.
The Corps maintains the lake near elevation 300 feet mean sea level during the summer to give maximum surface water for boating and other recreation activities.
In the winter and early spring, the lake level is gradually dropped back to elevation 290. This action provides additional flood storage in anticipation of melting snows; the water is released through the generators creating additional power supplies during the winter season.