1937–present

TWDB's daily record reaches back to 1937, when Buchanan Dam began holding water. The first months of filling are left off the chart and the comparison, just as for the 1952 record low. Lake Buchanan has ranged over 37.70 vertical feet, from a record low of 983.70 ft (Sep 9, 1952) to a record high of 1,021.40 ft (Dec 20, 1991). Today's 1,018.32 ft is higher than 84% of the 1,064 monthly averages since 1938.

Lake elevation history, monthly, Jan 1938 to Sep 2026, today 1,018.32 ft, full pool 1,020.00 ft, lowest 983.70 ft in Sep 1952, highest 1,021.26 ft in Dec 1991. Yearly summary of the monthly record.
Year	Mean (ft)	Low (ft)	High (ft)
1938	1,007.67	993.00	1,020.50
1939	1,012.23	1,008.00	1,018.18
1940	1,011.63	1,000.50	1,019.70
1941	1,018.46	1,016.80	1,020.00
1942	1,017.51	1,012.90	1,020.34
1943	1,007.30	999.85	1,016.31
1944	1,004.93	999.98	1,011.05
1945	1,014.80	1,005.37	1,020.56
1946	1,006.31	999.73	1,014.33
1947	1,007.23	1,001.60	1,016.03
1948	1,001.64	994.00	1,010.35
1949	1,010.83	1,000.22	1,020.67
1950	1,010.28	1,007.60	1,013.47
1951	1,001.66	990.20	1,012.93
1952	995.43	983.70	1,003.49
1953	1,011.03	1,003.45	1,017.66
1954	1,013.57	1,008.71	1,020.93
1955	1,014.21	1,008.40	1,020.78
1956	1,012.14	1,007.90	1,020.64
1957	1,014.90	1,008.39	1,020.80
1958	1,016.01	1,011.49	1,020.23
1959	1,014.11	1,008.97	1,020.83
1960	1,011.49	1,003.33	1,019.93
1961	1,015.31	1,008.71	1,020.91
1962	1,002.17	994.76	1,009.10
1963	999.45	994.47	1,004.85
1964	1,000.96	986.63	1,009.83
1965	1,016.17	1,009.85	1,020.77
1966	1,018.05	1,015.37	1,020.32
1967	1,013.71	1,008.29	1,016.97
1968	1,017.71	1,011.06	1,021.11
1969	1,017.20	1,012.40	1,020.47
1970	1,016.59	1,012.47	1,020.58
1971	1,013.96	1,000.99	1,020.75
1972	1,015.51	1,010.26	1,019.66
1973	1,008.70	1,002.18	1,012.97
1974	1,015.16	1,011.86	1,020.85
1975	1,018.23	1,016.42	1,020.32
1976	1,018.33	1,017.04	1,020.11
1977	1,016.63	1,013.65	1,020.03
1978	1,012.29	1,006.42	1,015.47
1979	1,016.10	1,010.21	1,019.89
1980	1,016.67	1,009.28	1,019.97
1981	1,018.16	1,015.79	1,019.91
1982	1,015.86	1,012.45	1,020.46
1983	1,014.63	1,011.22	1,017.72
1984	1,002.60	987.97	1,011.87
1985	1,009.14	996.14	1,013.64
1986	1,015.25	1,009.33	1,020.31
1987	1,018.82	1,017.72	1,020.26
1988	1,015.37	1,008.28	1,019.21
1989	1,011.03	1,007.55	1,018.04
1990	1,014.83	1,007.55	1,020.12
1991	1,018.39	1,015.70	1,021.26
1992	1,017.85	1,015.32	1,020.37
1993	1,016.31	1,013.02	1,019.95
1994	1,013.49	1,008.04	1,018.96
1995	1,015.83	1,013.30	1,018.65
1996	1,009.38	1,002.52	1,014.29
1997	1,016.67	1,007.50	1,020.11
1998	1,016.00	1,011.01	1,020.10
1999	1,012.51	1,007.91	1,016.30
2000	1,006.14	994.73	1,013.52
2001	1,015.74	1,013.21	1,018.72
2002	1,016.87	1,014.86	1,019.46
2003	1,017.22	1,013.22	1,019.34
2004	1,017.57	1,015.45	1,019.88
2005	1,017.06	1,013.36	1,020.00
2006	1,006.70	998.04	1,013.34
2007	1,011.06	998.04	1,019.30
2008	1,013.67	1,004.87	1,018.65
2009	999.16	989.84	1,005.01
2010	1,008.65	996.33	1,011.89
2011	1,000.45	987.76	1,010.11
2012	994.23	988.33	997.81
2013	989.41	985.27	992.28
2014	988.27	986.15	990.72
2015	998.13	986.53	1,011.85
2016	1,016.93	1,011.89	1,018.09
2017	1,017.08	1,015.49	1,018.05
2018	1,014.99	1,009.53	1,019.10
2019	1,017.35	1,015.96	1,018.70
2020	1,016.10	1,013.33	1,018.09
2021	1,014.73	1,011.78	1,017.11
2022	1,008.94	1,002.02	1,015.26
2023	998.49	992.05	1,002.98
2024	1,001.97	994.24	1,009.43
2025	1,009.65	997.64	1,020.03
2026	1,018.66	1,017.40	1,019.96

Monthly mean (line) with monthly min–max band. Dashed teal line = full pool (1,020.00 ft).

Record high

1,021.40 ft

Dec 20, 1991

Record low

983.70 ft

Sep 9, 1952

2008–16 drought low

985.27 ft

Sep 19, 2013

Spillway

1,020.35 ft

topped on 196 days, last Feb 6, 1992

Daily values shown as monthly min, mean and max. Lake level, storage and percent full from LCRA Hydromet; daily history and surveyed surface area from the Texas Water Development Board; reference elevations and ramp minimums from LCRA. Historical daily values are agency-reviewed; recent values are provisional.