Last November the Drought Lowered Lake Hopatcong. This November the Gates Will.

At the Lake Hopatcong Commission's November 10, 2025 meeting, a commissioner asked when the drawdown would start. The State Park representative said there were only four inches to go. The lake was at 7.5 feet that night. The winter target under the current pilot program is 7.17 feet, which works out to about four inches below 7.5. Months of dry weather had already lowered the lake almost to the level the drawdown is supposed to reach.

This October looks nothing like that. At 9:45 p.m. on October 11, 2026, the USGS gauge at Landing read 9.19 feet, which is above the 9-foot dam crest. So this fall's drawdown will work the way the plan describes it. The water will start full, and the gate schedule will bring it down over several weeks. Most people on the shoreline have only seen that happen from a full lake in a normal year.

Two Octobers on the Same Gauge

The Commission's monthly minutes cover the full dry stretch and the recovery. At the October 13, 2025 meeting the lake was at 7.81 feet, and it had been down to 7.7 before a round of rain. A commissioner said low water had cut the boating season short and asked whether the state park would reduce outflow. The answer was that outflow would not be reduced unless the drought got more serious.

The December and January minutes both record plans to open the gates later that week. In other words, gate work was still being discussed in January, more than two months after the date the plan normally starts the drawdown. By April the level had climbed back to 8.70 feet, and the Commission discussed cutting outflow. That still needed approval from DEP management. On May 11 the State Park update said rain the week before had brought the lake to full pool.

The statewide picture follows the same pattern. On NJDEP's drought page, the state lifted its drought warning on October 1, 2026, after a wet summer and start to fall. The warning had been in effect since December 5, 2025. The same update says New Jersey had below-normal rainfall in 25 of the last 30 months, and that most counties got 5.5 to 9.5 inches more than normal over the last 90 days. That page is about drinking-water supply statewide and doesn't rate the lake. Still, the gauge at Landing shows the same turnaround.

How the Gates Read the Gauge

Lake Hopatcong's drawdown doesn't start on a fixed calendar date. NJDEP's Water Level Management Plan ties the start date to the lake level, and here is how it works:

1. If the lake is at 9 feet, the gates open on November 12 and lower the water about 0.79 inch per day.
2. The start moves one day earlier for each inch the lake sits above 9 feet. It moves one day later for each inch below.
3. The release rate changes with rainfall so the lake reaches its target by December 15.

On October 11 the lake was 0.19 feet above 9 feet, or a little over two inches. If it were still there in November, the rule would move the start roughly two days ahead of November 12. That is only arithmetic on the plan's rule. No one has announced a 2026 start date. The real date depends on where the gauge sits in November, and that depends on rain between now and then.

The target depth has its own history. The plan's written schedule still lists a 26-inch drawdown to 6.83 feet every fall, and a 60-inch drawdown every fifth year. The next 60-inch year on the schedule is 2028. Since 2016, though, a pilot program has replaced the 26 inches with 22, which puts the target at 7.17 feet. In its October 2025 summary of the updated plan, the Lake Hopatcong Commission and Foundation wrote that the pilot "will continue to remain in effect." NJDEP reviews it every year. The plan says the pilot exists because the lake "has failed to consistently reach full pool following its annual drawdown." We found no separate 2026 statement renewing it, so 22 inches is the depth currently in effect, not a confirmed number for this winter.

That is why last year and this year differ so much. The 22-inch target was meant to make the spring refill easier. In fall 2025 the weather pulled the lake down to about that level on its own. In fall 2026 the lake starts above the crest, so the gauge-driven timing rule and the release toward the pilot's 7.17-foot target will be what lowers the water.

The Weeks Before the Gates Open

The plan says the lowering is there "to allow for waterfront maintenance and to protect property from ice damage." Until then, the lake stays at boating level, and the end-of-season calendar works around that:

• Hopatcong State Park ramp. The launch is open daily. Fall fees are $12 for New Jersey residents and $20 for everyone else, from the day after Labor Day through October 31. The Commission's November 2025 minutes say the park is the only facility on the lake that allows personal watercraft launches.
• Winterization pricing. South Shore Marine's 2026 list has outboard winterization at $180 and inboard or I/O at $250. Shrink-wrap runs $22 per foot for boats 22 feet and under, $23 per foot for 23 feet and over, and $26 per foot for pontoons or boats with arches or towers. Haul-out is $200 on your trailer or $400 on the shop's, and November-through-April storage is $550 or $650 depending on length.
• Bridge Marina's season close. The End of Season Fleet Sale & Open House was held October 10 and included boats coming out of the club and rental fleets.
• Leaves. The Lake Hopatcong Foundation's October 4 guidance asks shoreline owners to keep leaves out of the water and out of storm drains. Decomposing leaves add nutrients that feed algae and plant growth, and they use up the dissolved oxygen fish need.

The leaf point matters more with the lake about to drop. Leaves raked to the waterline in October will be sitting on exposed lakebed by December, and on a full lake they wash straight in.

A November Evening at 125 Landing Road

The Commission meets at 125 Landing Road in Landing, and its minutes are where gauge readings like the ones above get reported. The same address hosts the Foundation's free eDNA community program on Tuesday, November 10, at 6 p.m., with doors at 5:30. Registration is required, and donations are welcome. If the lake is still a couple of inches above crest by then, the plan's rule would put the start of the drawdown at about the same time.

The Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum has open dates on October 18 and 29, November 8 and 21, and December 5 and 20. The October 18 hours are noon to 3 p.m. Those dates cover the whole drawdown window, from the last weekend boats are on the water to the days just after the December 15 target.

Where a Full Drawdown Leads

Once the lake is down, the next things on the calendar are ice and spring. Last winter the Knee Deep Club brought back its ice-fishing contest. NJ.com reported on January 31, 2026 that the lake was finally solid enough, with a 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. contest the next day and another set for February 15.

All the shrink-wrap from this fall comes back in spring. According to WRNJ, the 2026 drop-off was Saturday, May 2, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Jefferson Township Health Center, 57 Minnisink Road, and it was free. Sussex County residents can also drop wrap at the SCMUA facility on Route 94 South in Lafayette, Monday through Saturday. The Foundation's 2025 year-end recap says the program collected 22.2 tons that year.

The spring refill, the step the 22-inch pilot is meant to protect, starts from wherever this winter leaves the lake. In 2026 it reached full pool on May 11. This year's drawdown begins from a lake that was above full pool in mid-October.

Lake level comes up early when you're buying or selling on Lake Hopatcong: dock depth in December, bulkhead work in the drawdown window, how a waterfront lot looks at 7.17 feet compared with 9. If you're planning a lakefront move around this winter's drawdown, The Sold Collective can walk you through how the timing affects showings, inspections, and pricing on the shoreline. Book an Appointment and we'll start from the current gauge reading.