Tuesday September 8, 2026
KRCR —
As the Labor Day weekend wrapped up, new state data showed Northern California’s two largest reservoirs are lower than they were a year ago, but still far above the levels seen during the 2021 drought.
Shasta Lake held 2.51 million acre-feet of water, about 55 percent full, according to Sept. 6 data from the California Department of Water Resources. That is down about 300,000 acre-feet from Sept. 6 of last year, when the lake was about 62 percent full.
The contrast is sharper than during the 2021 drought. During that period, Shasta Lake held 1.19 million acre-feet of water and was just 26 percent full.
Boater Eric Gustafson said the lake has remained in good shape despite the year-over-year drop.
“The lake level has been fantastic this year, same with last year, due to some high rain over the winter period that we were able to enjoy the lake a lot longer. So even though it looks a little lower for this time of year, this lake level is fantastic,” Gustafson said.