Level movement · 30-day water-level change

Lakes with the biggest 30-day level rises

Of the 110 assessed lakes carrying a U.S. Geological Survey water-level gauge, 22 rose between the latest daily reading and the last reading at or before the 30-day mark. A gauge is ranked only when both endpoints of the window reported. Spans differ across this table: 2 of 22 ranked gauges did not report on the day exactly 30 days before their latest reading, so their change is measured over 30 to 32 days. Rows are not strictly comparable where the spans differ. Values are daily-batch observations from the USGS National Water Information System covering the trailing 365 days, never real-time. Refill after rain, snowmelt, or reduced releases all raise levels; a rise is not by itself a flood signal.

+13.48 ft
Biggest rise: Schoharie Reservoir
22
Ranked gauged lakes
Daily
Observation cadence

This ranking in one line

Schoharie Reservoir in NY shows the largest 30-day water-level rise among USGS-gauged lakes PlainLakes tracks: +13.48 ft over 32 days, measured as elevation, from 1,116.6 to 1,130.1 ft as of 2026-08-15. This change spans 32 days rather than 30: the gauge reported on 2026-07-14 and again on 2026-08-15, and the comparison uses the last reading at or before the 30-day mark.

Biggest rise
Schoharie Reservoir, NY
32-day change
+13.48 ft
Latest reading
1,130.1 ft (2026-08-15)

Data updated 2026-08-17

According to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water Information System, PlainLakes links daily water-level gauges to 110 assessed lake-type waterbodies in the August 2026 extract, and this ranking orders the 22 largest 30-day rises among gauges with both window endpoints. See our methodology for name-matching limits and refresh cadence.

Top 15 level rises

30-day change in daily water level, largest rise first

ft (rise)

What this shows Levels come from USGS parameters that all report feet of water: lake or reservoir surface elevation (62614, 62615, 72264) and gage height (00065), measured from the gauge’s own zero. Each row names its measure. The elevations here are quoted against 2 different vertical datums (NGVD 29, NAVD 88), which do not share a zero, and one row reports a stage measured from a local project datum rather than from sea level, marked “local datum”. Absolute elevations are therefore not comparable between lakes. Change is measured within a single gauge, against its own baseline, so it compares a lake to itself and never one lake’s level to another’s. Spans differ across this table: 2 of 22 ranked gauges did not report on the day exactly 30 days before their latest reading, so their change is measured over 30 to 32 days. Rows are not strictly comparable where the spans differ.

Source USGS NWIS As of Trailing 365 days, through 2026-08-16

Every row

Full ranking

# Name 30-day change (ft)
1 Schoharie Reservoir (NY) Measure: Elevation · Over: 32 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +13.48 ft
2 Neversink Reservoir (NY) Measure: Elevation · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +5.63 ft
3 Delta Reservoir (NY) Measure: Elevation (local datum) · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-03-31 +3.91 ft
4 Pepacton Reservoir (NY) Measure: Elevation · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +3.44 ft
5 Cagles Mill Lake (IN) Measure: Elevation · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +2.60 ft
6 Lake Eckles (FL) Measure: Gage height · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +0.80 ft
7 Ward Lake (FL) Measure: Gage height · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +0.76 ft
8 Hempstead Lake (NY) Measure: Elevation · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +0.51 ft
9 Saratoga Lake (NY) Measure: Elevation · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +0.37 ft
10 Lake Weohyakapka (FL) Measure: Elevation · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +0.29 ft
11 Lake Rosalie (FL) Measure: Elevation · Over: 32 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +0.28 ft
12 Deep Creek Lake (MD) Measure: Elevation · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-16 +0.23 ft
13 Lake Koshkonong (WI) Measure: Elevation · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-16 +0.22 ft
14 Lake Koshkonong (WI) Measure: Gage height · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +0.14 ft
15 Pike Lake (IN) Measure: Gage height · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +0.12 ft
16 Lake Hopatcong (NJ) Measure: Gage height · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-16 +0.11 ft
16 Sylvan Lake (IN) Measure: Gage height · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +0.11 ft
18 Lake Monona (WI) Measure: Gage height · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +0.08 ft
19 Geneva Lake (WI) Measure: Gage height · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +0.06 ft
20 Higgins Lake (MI) Measure: Gage height · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +0.05 ft
20 Hamilton Lake (IN) Measure: Gage height · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +0.05 ft
22 Salton Sea (CA) Measure: Elevation · Over: 30 days · As of: 2026-08-15 +0.04 ft

4 of the 22 rows in this table tie on the ranked value: 2 at +0.11 ft (rank 16), 2 at +0.05 ft (rank 20). Tied rows share a rank and are listed in no meaningful order.

Change = the latest daily water-level value minus the last value at or before the 30-day mark, for gauges conservatively name-matched to an assessed waterbody. A gauge that did not report on that exact day is compared against its nearest earlier reading, so the span can exceed 30 days. Spans differ across this table: 2 of 22 ranked gauges did not report on the day exactly 30 days before their latest reading, so their change is measured over 30 to 32 days. Rows are not strictly comparable where the spans differ. Levels come from USGS parameters that all report feet of water: lake or reservoir surface elevation (62614, 62615, 72264) and gage height (00065), measured from the gauge’s own zero. Each row names its measure. The elevations here are quoted against 2 different vertical datums (NGVD 29, NAVD 88), which do not share a zero, and one row reports a stage measured from a local project datum rather than from sea level, marked “local datum”. Absolute elevations are therefore not comparable between lakes. Change is measured within a single gauge, against its own baseline, so it compares a lake to itself and never one lake’s level to another’s. USGS does not file one daily statistic for every gauge: 15 of these 22 rows are a daily mean and the rest are a daily maximum or a reading at 07:00 or a reading at 24:00. A row's change, range and latest value are all that statistic's. Reservoir storage (acre-feet) is a volume, not a level, and is not ranked here. Gauges without both endpoints are excluded. Readings are daily-batch snapshots. Every reading ranked here is provisional and subject to revision by USGS, which has not yet completed quality review on it.

Reading this ranking

Rankings order reported source data; they are not endorsements or safety determinations.

Rankings are computed from state assessment decisions in EPA's ATTAINS system and USGS National Water Information System daily values; the ordering metric and any exclusion floor are stated above the table, no number is typed in by an editor. Recomputed from the trailing-365-day USGS daily-values pull on every data refresh; the 30-day window endpoints are stated per row. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-17. Primary sources: EPA ATTAINS and USGS National Water Information System.