Water elevation · USGS gauge 03131898 · updated October 1, 2020
Water elevation
1201.26ft
feet above sea level
Gauge 03131898, Clear Fork Reservoir near Lexington OH, operated by the U.S. Geological Survey. The value above is the most recent reading on file with its own timestamp. When the gauge answers, it is replaced by the current one — no estimate is ever shown in place of a missing reading.
What this number is
Water elevation is the height of the lake surface above sea level, as surveyed at Clear Fork Reservoir near Lexington OH. It is the number reservoir operators publish, and it is comparable from one reading to the next at this lake. It is not the depth of the water.
- Measured as
- Water elevation, ft above sea level
- Most recent reading on file
- 1201.26 ft · October 1, 2020
- Water quality
- Readings on the lake page
No target level is shown here. Saying a lake is high or low needs a conservation pool or a seasonal rule curve to measure against, and the gauge reading alone does not carry one. The station page above holds the full record, including the last several days, which is what a single reading has to be read against.
Water quality at Clear Fork Reservoir
Clear Fork Reservoir has limited nutrient and algae sampling on record. A lake without recent nutrient or algae sampling shows whatever measurements exist rather than an estimate.
The gauge measures how much water is in the lake. The nutrient and algae readings measure what is in the water. A rise or a drawdown does not change those readings until the lake is sampled again.
Common questions
What is the water level at Clear Fork Reservoir right now?
The most recent reading from the USGS gauge at Clear Fork Reservoir near Lexington OH is a water elevation of 1201.26 ft, taken on October 1, 2020. This page reloads that gauge every time it is opened, so the number above is the current one whenever the station is reporting. USGS lake gauges typically post a new value every 15 to 60 minutes.
What does water elevation mean?
Water elevation is the height of the lake surface above sea level, as surveyed at Clear Fork Reservoir near Lexington OH. It is the number reservoir operators publish, and it is comparable from one reading to the next at this lake. It is not the depth of the water.
Is Clear Fork Reservoir low?
That question needs a target pool level to answer, and the gauge reading alone does not supply one. Reservoir operators publish a conservation pool or a seasonal rule curve for the lakes they manage, and the USGS station page for gauge 03131898 carries the full record this reading came from, including the past several days. Comparing today against that record is the honest version of "low" — a single number is not.
Does the water level affect water quality at Clear Fork Reservoir?
Clear Fork Reservoir has limited nutrient and algae sampling on record. Each lake's nutrient and algae readings — total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity — are shown beside the EPA National Lakes Assessment 2022 condition class for that lake's own ecoregion, so a reading is compared against the lakes it would naturally resemble. LakeQuality publishes no letter grade. None of that comes from the gauge. A drawdown can concentrate nutrients and a heavy inflow can dilute them, but neither shows up in the readings until the water is sampled again. Treat the two numbers as separate measurements of the same lake.
Where these numbers come from
The level and temperature are U.S. Geological Survey instantaneous values from gauge 03131898, a public feed with no licence restriction. The water-quality readings come from EPA Water Quality Portal samples submitted by Ohio Lake Management Society (Volunteer). For advisories and standards in Ohio, Ohio EPA is the authority — a gauge reading is neither.