Lake Mead elevation and storage are linked by the shape of the reservoir basin. A one-foot change in elevation does not always represent the same change in storage, because the reservoir’s surface area expands and contracts with basin geometry.
The Bureau of Reclamation updated Lake Mead’s area-capacity tables using a 2001 bathymetric survey and a 2009 LiDAR survey, producing a revised relationship between elevation, surface area, and available storage above dead pool.1
Using those tables, the chart below shows how Lake Mead elevation maps to storage and area. At lower elevations, a few feet can mean a meaningful change in available storage, operational flexibility, and the distance from critical thresholds at Hoover Dam.
Elevation - Storage - Area Chart
Current elevation accurate as of: --
Showing 3,341 Mead curve points combining elevation, storage, and area into a basin profile.