HydrionisGlobal Water Intelligence
Monitored reservoir

Palisades Reservoir

Palisades Reservoir is a federal reservoir operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in its Pacific Northwest region, with published operating records from 1956.

Storage recordPalisades Reservoir, Dam, and Powerplant (PAL)

Storage now, against this reservoir's own record

237.14 Mm³
Stored, August 2026
6th
Percentile among 70 Augs on record
-72.3%
Against the Aug 1991–2020 average
-60.8%
Change over the 12 months to 2026-08

Storage in August 2026 was lower than almost every other Aug on record, ranked against 70 other Augs held for this reservoir.

Storage, 1956–2026

Monthly mean storage
837 monthly values, 1956 to 2026
Monthly mean storageMonthly mean storage: Palisades Reservoir in Mm³, from 1956.9166666666667 to 2026.5833333333333.05001,0001,500Mm³1956.91666666666671965.66666666666671974.41666666666671983.16666666666671991.91666666666672000.66666666666672009.41666666666672018.1666666666667Year

Monthly means of the publisher's daily record. Volume, not percentage of capacity — see below for why.

What the shaded periods are (0 events)

Not shown on this chart

  • The 1976 drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • The 2022 drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • Yorkshire drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • Cantareira water crisis, São Paulo — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • Cape Town Day Zero — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • European drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
View the data behind this chart
240 of 837 periods, evenly spaced across the record. Every value is in the download and the API; a table of all 837 would be longer than this page and unusable with a screen reader.
PeriodPalisades Reservoir (Mm³)
December 1956263
March 1957448
July 1957913
October 1957535
February 1958748
May 19581,150
September 1958633
December 1958761
April 1959967
July 19591,386
November 1959668
February 1960946
June 19601,225
September 196088.6
January 1961371
April 1961843
August 1961494
November 1961480
March 1962791
June 19621,311
October 1962975
January 19631,093
May 19631,473
August 19631,032
December 1963984
March 19641,142
July 19641,467
October 19641,000
February 19651,127
May 1965536
September 19651,421
December 19651,317
April 19661,360
July 19661,237
November 1966365
February 1967611
June 19671,220
September 19671,132
January 19681,095
April 19681,312
August 19681,259
November 19681,318
March 19691,211
June 19691,367
October 1969803
January 19701,025
May 1970976
August 19701,228
December 19701,199
March 1971978
July 19711,468
October 19711,207
February 19721,101
May 1972359
September 19721,369
December 19721,229
April 19731,142
July 19731,267
November 1973966
February 19741,175
June 19741,176
September 19741,352
January 19751,202
April 1975701
August 19751,447
November 19751,267
March 1976940
June 1976972
October 19761,395
January 19771,284
May 19771,151
August 1977263
December 1977219
March 1978361
July 19781,439
October 19781,397
February 19791,239
May 19791,062
September 1979903
December 1979917
April 19801,105
July 19801,402
November 19801,030
February 19811,338
June 19811,482
September 1981438
January 1982727
April 1982279
August 19821,470
November 19821,470
March 19831,335
June 19831,425
October 19831,456
January 19841,283
May 1984868
August 19841,476
December 19841,402
March 19851,104
July 19851,245
October 1985933
February 19861,150
May 1986587
September 19861,453
December 19861,423
April 19871,475
July 19871,098
November 1987503
February 1988793
June 19881,447
September 1988243
January 1989432
April 1989819
August 1989920
November 1989799
March 19901,165
June 19901,195
October 199011.3
January 1991274
May 1991782
August 1991907
December 1991711
March 1992984
July 1992332
October 1992155
February 1993350
May 1993987
September 19931,178
December 19931,247
April 19941,481
July 1994822
November 1994146
February 1995357
June 19951,145
September 19951,261
January 19961,449
April 1996396
August 19961,309
November 19961,174
March 1997485
June 19971,379
October 19971,332
January 19981,350
May 19981,010
August 19981,311
December 19981,238
March 1999866
July 19991,435
October 19991,115
February 20001,271
May 20001,256
September 2000403
December 2000418
April 2001770
July 2001345
November 2001187
February 2002382
June 2002800
September 2002107
January 2003335
April 2003608
August 2003134
November 2003107
March 2004434
June 2004424
October 2004141
January 2005415
May 2005939
August 2005793
December 2005653
March 2006801
July 20061,282
October 2006705
February 20071,011
May 20071,288
September 200736.4
December 2007232
April 2008597
July 20081,415
November 2008579
February 2009944
June 20091,344
September 2009944
January 20101,101
April 20101,365
August 2010996
November 2010572
March 2011837
June 2011665
October 20111,295
January 20121,278
May 20121,099
August 2012663
December 2012312
March 2013566
July 2013475
October 2013138
February 2014381
May 2014471
September 2014695
December 2014941
April 20151,297
July 20151,161
November 2015440
February 2016783
June 20161,259
September 2016156
January 2017490
April 2017231
August 20171,425
November 20171,397
March 20181,292
June 20181,427
October 2018740
January 20191,084
May 2019839
August 20191,212
December 20191,255
March 20201,371
July 20201,394
October 2020662
February 20211,069
May 20211,242
September 2021169
December 2021257
April 2022572
July 2022996
November 2022151
February 2023420
June 20231,407
September 2023877
January 20241,162
April 20241,220
August 2024996
November 2024619
March 20251,034
June 20251,368
October 2025105
January 2026474
May 2026613
August 2026237

The reservoir's year

Seasonal storage profile
Each calendar month's reference average, against the most recent year
Seasonal storage profileSeasonal storage profile: 1991–2020 average, Most recent 12 months in Mm³, from 1 to 12.05001,000Mm³123456789101112Month1991–2020 average 1: 810 Mm³1991–2020 average 2: 852 Mm³1991–2020 average 3: 840 Mm³1991–2020 average 4: 795 Mm³1991–2020 average 5: 823 Mm³1991–2020 average 6: 1,128 Mm³1991–2020 average 7: 1,107 Mm³1991–2020 average 8: 855 Mm³1991–2020 average 9: 664 Mm³1991–2020 average 10: 608 Mm³1991–2020 average 11: 673 Mm³1991–2020 average 12: 762 Mm³Most recent 12 months 1: 474 Mm³Most recent 12 months 2: 573 Mm³Most recent 12 months 3: 699 Mm³Most recent 12 months 4: 865 Mm³Most recent 12 months 5: 613 Mm³Most recent 12 months 6: 627 Mm³Most recent 12 months 7: 498 Mm³Most recent 12 months 8: 237 Mm³Most recent 12 months 9: 221 Mm³Most recent 12 months 10: 105 Mm³Most recent 12 months 11: 205 Mm³Most recent 12 months 12: 332 Mm³
  • 1991–2020 average
  • Most recent 12 months

Twelve separate averages, one per calendar month. A January average describes Januaries only. Months are plotted 1–12.

View the data behind this chart
Underlying data
Period1991–2020 average (Mm³)Most recent 12 months (Mm³)
Jan810474
Feb852573
Mar840699
Apr795865
May823613
Jun1,128627
Jul1,107498
Aug855237
Sep664221
Oct608105
Nov673205
Dec762332

Why this page shows a volume and not a percentage

Water level

Monthly mean water surface elevation
837 monthly values
Monthly mean water surface elevationMonthly mean water surface elevation: Palisades Reservoir in m, from 1956.9166666666667 to 2026.5833333333333.1,6801,7001,720m1956.91666666666671965.66666666666671974.41666666666671983.16666666666671991.91666666666672000.66666666666672009.41666666666672018.1666666666667Year

An elevation above a datum, not a depth of water and not a distance below the crest. Levels at different reservoirs are measured against different datums and must not be read against one another; this line is comparable only with its own history. Elevation and volume are not proportional either — a metre near the bottom of a reservoir holds far less water than a metre near the top, because the surface area grows with height.

What the shaded periods are (0 events)

Not shown on this chart

  • The 1976 drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • The 2022 drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • Yorkshire drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • Cantareira water crisis, São Paulo — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • Cape Town Day Zero — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
  • European drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
View the data behind this chart
240 of 837 periods, evenly spaced across the record. Every value is in the download and the API; a table of all 837 would be longer than this page and unusable with a screen reader.
PeriodPalisades Reservoir (m)
1956.91666666666671,686
1957.16666666666671,692
1957.51,703
1957.751,694
1958.08333333333331,699
1958.33333333333331,708
1958.66666666666671,697
1958.91666666666671,700
1959.251,704
1959.51,711
1959.83333333333331,698
1960.08333333333331,704
1960.41666666666671,709
1960.66666666666671,680
19611,690
1961.251,702
1961.58333333333331,693
1961.83333333333331,693
1962.16666666666671,700
1962.41666666666671,710
1962.751,704
19631,707
1963.33333333333331,713
1963.58333333333331,705
1963.91666666666671,705
1964.16666666666671,707
1964.51,713
1964.751,705
1965.08333333333331,707
1965.33333333333331,694
1965.66666666666671,712
1965.91666666666671,710
1966.251,711
1966.51,709
1966.83333333333331,689
1967.08333333333331,696
1967.41666666666671,709
1967.66666666666671,707
19681,707
1968.251,710
1968.58333333333331,709
1968.83333333333331,710
1969.16666666666671,709
1969.41666666666671,711
1969.751,701
19701,705
1970.33333333333331,704
1970.58333333333331,709
1970.91666666666671,708
1971.16666666666671,704
1971.51,713
1971.751,709
1972.08333333333331,707
1972.33333333333331,689
1972.66666666666671,711
1972.91666666666671,709
1973.251,707
1973.51,710
1973.83333333333331,704
1974.08333333333331,708
1974.41666666666671,708
1974.66666666666671,711
19751,708
1975.251,698
1975.58333333333331,712
1975.83333333333331,710
1976.16666666666671,704
1976.41666666666671,704
1976.751,712
19771,710
1977.33333333333331,708
1977.58333333333331,686
1977.91666666666671,685
1978.16666666666671,689
1978.51,712
1978.751,712
1979.08333333333331,709
1979.33333333333331,706
1979.66666666666671,703
1979.91666666666671,703
1980.251,707
1980.51,712
1980.83333333333331,705
1981.08333333333331,711
1981.41666666666671,713
1981.66666666666671,692
19821,699
1982.251,687
1982.58333333333331,713
1982.83333333333331,713
1983.16666666666671,711
1983.41666666666671,712
1983.751,713
19841,710
1984.33333333333331,702
1984.58333333333331,713
1984.91666666666671,712
1985.16666666666671,707
1985.51,709
1985.751,703
1986.08333333333331,708
1986.33333333333331,696
1986.66666666666671,713
1986.91666666666671,712
1987.251,713
1987.51,707
1987.83333333333331,693
1988.08333333333331,700
1988.41666666666671,712
1988.66666666666671,686
19891,691
1989.251,701
1989.58333333333331,703
1989.83333333333331,701
1990.16666666666671,708
1990.41666666666671,708
1990.751,676
19911,687
1991.33333333333331,700
1991.58333333333331,703
1991.91666666666671,699
1992.16666666666671,705
1992.51,688
1992.751,682
1993.08333333333331,689
1993.33333333333331,704
1993.66666666666671,708
1993.91666666666671,709
1994.251,713
1994.51,701
1994.83333333333331,682
1995.08333333333331,689
1995.41666666666671,707
1995.66666666666671,710
19961,713
1996.251,690
1996.58333333333331,710
1996.83333333333331,708
1997.16666666666671,693
1997.41666666666671,711
1997.751,711
19981,711
1998.33333333333331,705
1998.58333333333331,710
1998.91666666666671,709
1999.16666666666671,702
1999.51,712
1999.751,707
2000.08333333333331,710
2000.33333333333331,709
2000.66666666666671,691
2000.91666666666671,691
2001.251,700
2001.51,689
2001.83333333333331,684
2002.08333333333331,690
2002.41666666666671,701
2002.66666666666671,681
20031,689
2003.251,696
2003.58333333333331,682
2003.83333333333331,681
2004.16666666666671,691
2004.41666666666671,691
2004.751,682
20051,691
2005.33333333333331,704
2005.58333333333331,700
2005.91666666666671,697
2006.16666666666671,701
2006.51,710
2006.751,698
2007.08333333333331,705
2007.33333333333331,710
2007.66666666666671,678
2007.91666666666671,685
2008.251,696
2008.51,712
2008.83333333333331,695
2009.08333333333331,704
2009.41666666666671,711
2009.66666666666671,704
20101,707
2010.251,711
2010.58333333333331,705
2010.83333333333331,695
2011.16666666666671,701
2011.41666666666671,697
2011.751,710
20121,710
2012.33333333333331,707
2012.58333333333331,697
2012.91666666666671,688
2013.16666666666671,695
2013.51,693
2013.751,682
2014.08333333333331,690
2014.33333333333331,692
2014.66666666666671,698
2014.91666666666671,704
2015.251,710
2015.51,708
2015.83333333333331,692
2016.08333333333331,700
2016.41666666666671,709
2016.66666666666671,682
20171,693
2017.251,685
2017.58333333333331,712
2017.83333333333331,712
2018.16666666666671,710
2018.41666666666671,712
2018.751,699
20191,706
2019.33333333333331,701
2019.58333333333331,709
2019.91666666666671,709
2020.16666666666671,711
2020.51,712
2020.751,697
2021.08333333333331,706
2021.33333333333331,709
2021.66666666666671,683
2021.91666666666671,686
2022.251,695
2022.51,705
2022.83333333333331,682
2023.08333333333331,691
2023.41666666666671,712
2023.66666666666671,702
20241,708
2024.251,709
2024.58333333333331,705
2024.83333333333331,696
2025.16666666666671,705
2025.41666666666671,711
2025.751,680
20261,693
2026.33333333333331,696
2026.58333333333331,685

Rate and persistence

-30.70 Mm³
Mean drawdown per month over 12 months
6 of 24
Recent months below the 20th percentile for their own month

Rates are computed only across an unbroken run of months, so a rate is never divided by a period in which some of the change was not observed. Percentile counts compare each month with the same calendar month in every other year held.

Location

Palisades Reservoir
Gauge location
Palisades ReservoirPalisades Reservoir — 237.14 Mm³Palisades Reservoir — 237.14 Mm³

About this data

About this data

Everything below is a property of the data rather than a rating of it. There is deliberately no single confidence score: how much a gap matters depends on what you are about to do with the series, and only you know that.

Source
United States Bureau of Reclamation — Reservoir operations and Colorado River data · US Government work — public domain
How the values came to existMeasured
Period held1956–2026
Completeness98.2% of the periods in that span are held. Gaps are drawn as breaks and never interpolated.
Known gaps
  • Storage is a managed quantity. A falling line can be a rule curve, a scheduled release or a transfer to another system rather than a shortage of water, and nothing here distinguishes them.
  • No capacity figure on a stated basis is held for this reservoir, so no percentage of capacity is computed.
Continuity98% of the months between 1956 and 2026 are held. Monthly means of the publisher's own daily record.
Last read from the publisher2026-09-01
RedistributionPermitted by the upstream licences
Commercial reusePermitted by the upstream licences. No Hydrionis access tier can widen this.
MethodologyHow this was produced

Use this data

Use this data

No bulk download is offered here, which is a licence position rather than a product one: at least one contributing publisher does not permit redistribution. The values can be read on the page, cited, and pointed to at source.

Attribution and citation

Suggested citation for Hydrionis

Hydrionis (2026), Palisades Reservoir reservoir records, accessed 2026-09-02, hydrionis.com/reservoirs/reservoir-usbr-7193/

Cite Hydrionis where you rely on the compilation, the normalisation, the eligibility judgements or a chart. Where you use an unmodified published value, the publisher’s attribution is the one that is required; crediting Hydrionis as well is welcome and is not something Hydrionis can require of you.

Recommended, not required. Hydrionis does not claim rights over unmodified public data it relayed, and doing arithmetic on somebody else’s measurements does not make them Hydrionis’s. Cite the version and the access date: the Palisades Reservoir record changes as publishers release and as methods are revised, and a citation without both cannot be checked later. Full guidance is on cite and reuse.

None of the contributing licences requires attribution. Crediting the publishers is still good practice and they are listed above.

Where this comes from

837 monthly observations 1956–2026 Mm³
Spatially aggregatedHigh confidenceAugust 2026

Source: USBR — Reservoir operations and Colorado River data, RISE catalogue item 132284. Licence: Open.

Method: Monthly mean of the daily values published by the Bureau of Reclamation in acre-feet, converted to Mm³. Months with fewer than 20 days of record are not published rather than averaged from a partial month.

Stored as a volume and not as a share of capacity: the operator publishes what is in the reservoir but not what it holds when full, so a percentage cannot be computed without inventing the denominator.

Retrieved 1 September 2026.

Monthly mean of the daily values published by the Bureau of Reclamation in acre-feet, converted to Mm³. Months with fewer than 20 days of record are not published rather than averaged from a partial month.

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