About Canada River Levels
Canada River Levels shows the latest water level and flow at 2,149 real-time gauges of the Water Survey of Canada, in plain language and on a map, and tells you whether each river is high or low for the time of year.
This is an independent, unofficial site. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Government of Canada or any province. We only display and summarize public open data.
Where the data comes from and how often we update it
| Data | Source | How often we check |
|---|---|---|
| Real-time water level and flow | Water Survey of Canada, ECCC (hydrometric real-time data). Provisional. | Every 30 minutes. Gauges usually report every 1 to 6 hours, with a delay of 1 to 2 hours. |
| List of gauges | ECCC MSC Datamart | Every 24 hours |
| What is "normal" (monthly averages) | HYDAT, the approved national archive (ECCC) | Every 180 days |
| Records (highest flow and level) | HYDAT annual instantaneous peaks (ECCC) | Every 180 days |
| Past years (daily means) | HYDAT daily means (ECCC) | When a new HYDAT year is published (a few times a year) |
| Weather forecasts and alerts | ECCC City Page Weather | Every 2 hours |
| Maps | © OpenStreetMap contributors | Loaded live |
We keep one reading per hour for the last 30 days and a daily average of our readings from then on. Real-time data are provisional: they can be revised later or affected by ice, debris or equipment problems. The official figures are on the Water Office; every gauge page links to its official page.
How "normal" is calculated
For each gauge we take the monthly average flow (or level, if the gauge has no flow) of every past year and look at the current month. The middle half of those years is the normal range. Below the 25th percentile is "below normal", below the 10th is "very low"; above the 75th is "above normal" and above the 90th is "very high". We need at least 5 years of history to rate a gauge.
Because we compare an hourly reading with monthly averages, short spikes after a storm can look extreme. Treat the rating as context, not a warning. Records come from approved data only, so very recent events may not be included yet. Water levels are measured from a local reference point at each gauge, which can change over the years.
Licence and attribution
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada, used under the ECCC Data Server End-use Licence. Ratings, records, charts, rain totals and summaries shown here are derived by Canada River Levels from those data and are not official ECCC products.
Terms of use
- The information is provided "as is", for general information only, without any warranty of accuracy, completeness or availability.
- Do not use Canada River Levels for flood warnings, emergency, navigation, boating or any safety decision. Always follow your provincial flood forecasting centre, Environment Canada alerts and local authorities.
- Canada River Levels is not liable for any loss or damage arising from the use of this site or its data.
- You may link to any page. Please do not copy the site in bulk: the underlying data are freely available from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Contact
Spotted an error? Write to [email protected].