Lake Level
Lake Conroe's Water Level: Normal Pool, Storm Releases and the Lowering Policy
Updated September 2026
Bottom line: Lake Conroe is held at 201 feet above sea level and passes storm water through the dam once it rises higher. Since 2024 it is lowered ahead of storms only when the City of Houston asks, by up to six inches at a time under the 2024 protocol.
What is Lake Conroe's normal water level?
201 feet above mean sea level, which the San Jacinto River Authority calls the normal conservation pool, or full pool. The authority told its board in May 2024 that the lake's state permit lets inflow be stored up to 201 feet and requires inflow to be passed through the dam once the lake rises above it. The top of the dam is at 212 feet.
The water belongs to the State of Texas. The authority holds the permit to keep about 430,000 acre-feet in the lake and to use up to 100,000 acre-feet a year, split one-third to the authority and two-thirds to the City of Houston, which also pays two-thirds of the lake division's operating costs. On request from the city, the authority releases the city's water through the dam into the San Jacinto River, where it flows to Lake Houston.
How high and how low has Lake Conroe been?
The authority's records put the highest level at 206.24 feet on August 28, 2017, the day of the largest release in the dam's history, 79,141 cubic feet per second; the record before that was 205.58 feet on October 19, 1994. The lowest was 192.68 feet on December 2, 2011, 8.32 feet below normal pool.
The authority holds a flowage easement up to 207 feet, the band the lake can rise into in a storm, so the 2017 record came within a foot of it. In the storm of May 2, 2024, Community Impact reported the lake at 205.1 feet with the dam releasing 69,545 cubic feet per second, and Montgomery County called voluntary evacuations downstream of the dam along the West Fork of the San Jacinto River.
| Level | Feet above sea level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Top of the dam | 212 | Built 1973 |
| Flowage easement | 207 | Acquired with the lake |
| Highest on record | 206.24 | August 28, 2017 |
| Previous record | 205.58 | October 19, 1994 |
| May 2024 storm, as reported | 205.1 | May 2, 2024 |
| Normal pool | 201 | The permit's storage level |
| Lowest on record | 192.68 | December 2, 2011 |
Why is Lake Conroe lowered before storms?
To make room for storm water ahead of time, and only when the City of Houston asks. The authority told its board on May 23, 2024 that it does not release water from storage ahead of a storm unless the city requests it, because water let out while the lake is at or below 201 feet is deducted from the water the authority and the city are allowed to use. It added that at the permit's limit then in force, 700 cubic feet per second, lowering the lake any significant amount would take weeks.
The practice began after Hurricane Harvey. In June 2018 the city and the authority announced a temporary plan to lower the lake from 201 to 199 feet between mid-August and the end of September, after the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality wrote that it intended to use enforcement discretion. By 2019 the authority described the seasonal program as a spring lowering to 200 feet from April 1, with water recaptured from June 1, and a fall lowering from August 1 toward 199 feet, recaptured from October 1.
What replaced seasonal lowering in 2024?
A request-based program called Active Storm Management. The authority's board approved the updated protocols unanimously on April 25, 2024, and its minutes record staff saying the City of Houston has the right to call for water at any time despite them. The Lake Conroe Association, a lakeside owners' group, reported that the authority's general manager told the same meeting the 2018 seasonal program was over.
Under the 2024 protocol, from April 1 to June 1 the city may ask for the lake to be lowered by up to six inches, to 200.5 feet, and by six more inches, to 200 feet, when a major rainfall is forecast. From August 1 to October 1 the same first six inches apply, a second six inches is allowed after Labor Day, and a named storm allows six more, to 199.5 feet. The protocol says every decision on these releases is the city's, that the water comes out of the city's two-thirds share, and that the protocols ran to the end of 2024, when the parties were to review them.
| Season | First lowering | With a major forecast storm |
|---|---|---|
| April 1 to June 1 | Up to six inches, to 200.5 | Six more inches, to 200.0 |
| August 1 to October 1 | Up to six inches, to 200.5, and six more after Labor Day, to 200.0 | For a named storm, six more inches, to 199.5 |
What happened when Lake Conroe was lowered in June 2024?
On June 14, 2024 the authority began releasing water ahead of forecast heavy rain, and Houston Landing reported that the release was prompted by a request from the City of Houston. The Lake Conroe Association wrote that the release stopped on June 18 after lowering the lake 5.4 inches, to 200.6 feet, and on June 20 it sent the city a formal notice that it considered the release a breach of the Active Storm Management agreement. The association's own later accounts give slightly different figures for the same release.
What has changed since 2025?
The rate at which water can be diverted. The authority's history of the lake's water right lists Amendment B, in October 2025, which raised the maximum water supply diversion rate from 700 to 2,000 cubic feet per second, and the state commission's notice gives October 15, 2025 as the date its executive director acted. A faster rate means a given lowering can happen in less time. The Lake Conroe Association opposed the change in writing.
The association also said in September 2025 that the lowering program had not existed as an agreed written protocol since January 2025. Meanwhile the authority is running a joint study of how Lake Conroe and Lake Houston should be operated together once new gates are added to the Lake Houston dam, including whether releasing water ahead of storms is workable; its page gives spring 2027 for the draft report.
What does the lake level mean for a house on the water?
Two things. First, the authority's rules say it is under no obligation to keep the lake at any level so that a dock can be built or used, and a lowering of six inches or a foot changes the depth at a slip. Second, the 207-foot flowage easement marks how high the lake may rise in a storm, and the 2017 record came within a foot of it, so the height of the lot and the house against 207 feet is worth reading from the survey or an elevation certificate.
Releases through the dam raise the West Fork of the San Jacinto River below it. That is where the county called evacuations in May 2024, and it is a separate question from how high the lake itself rises.
What does this page leave open?
Whether and how far the lake will be lowered in any given season, which depends on a request from the City of Houston and on the forecast, and what the joint study will recommend. It also leaves open how any one lot fared in 2017 or 2024, which the lot's survey, its elevation certificate and the seller's disclosure are the places to read.
Questions & answers
Lake Conroe questions, answered
What is the normal water level of Lake Conroe?
Lake Conroe's normal level, which the San Jacinto River Authority calls full pool or the normal conservation pool, is 201 feet above mean sea level. The lake's state permit lets water be stored up to that level and requires storm inflow above it to be passed through the dam, so the lake is held near 201 feet and drawn down only by use, evaporation or a requested release.
The top of the dam is at 212 feet, and the authority holds a flowage easement up to 207 feet, the band the lake can rise into during a storm. The authority's dock fees are measured at full pool whatever the day's level, and its rules say it has no obligation to keep the lake at any level for a dock's sake. Lowering ahead of storms is covered on the page about Lake Conroe's water level and the lowering policy.
What is the highest Lake Conroe has ever been?
206.24 feet above mean sea level, on August 28, 2017, according to the San Jacinto River Authority, the same day the dam made its largest release on record, 79,141 cubic feet per second. The previous record was 205.58 feet on October 19, 1994. Both are within about a foot and a half of the authority's 207-foot flowage easement.
In the storm of May 2, 2024 Community Impact reported the lake at 205.1 feet with the dam releasing 69,545 cubic feet per second, and Montgomery County called voluntary evacuations downstream along the West Fork of the San Jacinto River. The lowest level on record is 192.68 feet, on December 2, 2011. A lot's height against 207 feet can be read from its survey or an elevation certificate.
Who decides when Lake Conroe is lowered?
The City of Houston. It holds two-thirds of the lake's water rights, and the San Jacinto River Authority told its board in May 2024 that it does not release water from storage ahead of a storm unless the city asks. The 2024 Active Storm Management protocol says every decision on those releases is the city's, and that the water comes out of the city's share.
The authority's board minutes of April 25, 2024 also record staff saying the city has the right to call for its water at any time. Water let out while the lake is at or below 201 feet counts against the 100,000 acre-feet a year the authority and the city may use between them. The Lake Conroe Association, a lakeside owners' group, has objected to past lowerings as a waste of water.
Is Lake Conroe still lowered every spring and fall?
Not on a fixed schedule. The seasonal lowering that began after Hurricane Harvey was replaced when the San Jacinto River Authority's board approved Active Storm Management on April 25, 2024. Under it, the City of Houston may ask for up to six inches of lowering from April 1 to June 1 and from August 1 to October 1, with more for a forecast major storm.
The 2024 protocol allowed a second six inches after Labor Day, down to 200 feet, and six more for a named storm, down to 199.5 feet. It ran to the end of 2024, and the Lake Conroe Association said in September 2025 that no agreed written protocol had existed since January 2025. The authority's joint study of Lake Conroe and Lake Houston operations expects a draft report in spring 2027.
What changed about releases from Lake Conroe in 2025?
The maximum rate at which the lake's water supply can be diverted. The San Jacinto River Authority lists Amendment B to its water right, in October 2025, which raised that rate from 700 to 2,000 cubic feet per second. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's notice gives October 15, 2025 as the date its executive director acted on the application.
The authority had told its board in May 2024 that at 700 cubic feet per second, lowering the lake any significant amount would take weeks, so the higher rate shortens how long a given lowering takes. The authority and the City of Houston applied together, and the Lake Conroe Association opposed the change in writing. The history of lowering the lake is on the page about Lake Conroe's water level and the lowering policy.