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Current Lake Conditions
Lake Cumberland is currently at 706.85 ft, which is 16.15 ft below the full pool elevation of 723 ft. This is about 13.69 ft lower than the recent average for this time of year.
Where This Data Comes From
Water level, inflow, and outflow come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Nashville District) CWMS system, which monitors Wolf Creek Dam in real time. Wolf Creek Dam impounds the Cumberland River to form Lake Cumberland. Rainfall is a lake-area average from Open-Meteo. All data on this site refreshes automatically every 15 minutes.
Seasonal Patterns
Lake Cumberland follows a large annual cycle driven by rainfall and Corps of Engineers operations. Through late fall and winter the Corps draws the lake down toward a winter pool of about 673 ft to open up flood storage — a swing of roughly 50 feet below summer full pool. It typically sits lowest in January and February, then spring rains refill it toward full pool (723 ft) for the summer recreation season, when boating, houseboating, and marina access are at their peak. By early fall the drawdown begins again. These patterns are visible in the year-over-year chart above.
Understanding Full Pool
Full pool at Lake Cumberland is 723 feet above mean sea level. Wolf Creek Dam, completed in 1951 on the Cumberland River, impounds one of the largest reservoirs in the eastern United States — roughly 65,000 acres at summer pool with over 1,000 miles of shoreline. The elevation matters for recreation: boat ramps, docks, and marinas are designed around it, and the large winter drawdown leaves some ramps well above the waterline. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Nashville District) manages releases at Wolf Creek Dam to balance flood control, hydropower generation, downstream navigation, and recreation.