Lake Levels

Understanding Our Lake Levels
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Falcon Dam

Amistad Lake

Understanding Lake Levels

Most of our water in the Rio Grande Valley comes from the Rio Grande. Water is stored in two main reservoirs along the river:

• Falcon Reservoir, located a few miles northwest of Roma - mainly in Zapata County
• Amistad Reservoir, which is about 300 miles up the river near Del Rio

The graphs above show the latest levels of the two reservoirs.

Falcon Reservoir is considered "full" or at "flood stage" when the water level is 301.2 feet above sea level. Keep in mind, the bottom of the lake at the dam is about 200 feet above sea level. That means, when full, the water at the dam would be just over 100 feet deep.

The Falcon graph shows the current level of the water above sea level. For example, if the graph shows a level of 271.20 feet, that means the surface of the lake is 271.20 feet above sea level. At the dam, the lake would be about 71.20 feet deep. At that level, the lake is still 30 feet below "full" or "flood stage."

Amistad's "full" level is 1117 feet above sea level. The bottom of the lake at Amistad Dam is about 900 feet above sea level. These graphs are provided by the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC).