Water elevation · USGS gauge 14180500 · updated August 29, 2026
Water elevation
1529.43ft
feet above sea level
Gauge 14180500, Detroit Lake near Detroit, OR, 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 Detroit Lake near Detroit, OR. 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
- 1529.43 ft · August 29, 2026
- 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 Detroit Lake
Detroit Lake's readings for total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity are shown beside the EPA National Lakes Assessment condition classes for its own ecoregion.
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 Detroit Lake right now?
The most recent reading from the USGS gauge at Detroit Lake near Detroit, OR is a water elevation of 1529.43 ft, taken on August 29, 2026. 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 Detroit Lake near Detroit, OR. 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 Detroit Lake 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 14180500 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 Detroit Lake?
Detroit Lake has nutrient and algae readings on record from state and federal monitoring. 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 14180500, a public feed with no licence restriction. The water-quality readings come from EPA Water Quality Portal samples submitted by USGS Oregon Water Science Center. For advisories and standards in Oregon, Oregon DEQ is the authority — a gauge reading is neither.