The live level of Great Slave Lake at Hay River from the Water Survey of Canada gauge — the working number for the barge docks and the fishery, and how the lake sits against the river mouth at break-up.
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The live level of Great Slave Lake at Hay River, straight from the Water Survey of Canada gauge on the shore. It sits alongside the Hay River gauge upstream: the river brings water down, the lake is what it runs into. This number describes the lake — it is not a flood warning. The official flood call at spring break-up comes from the Government of the Northwest Territories (linked below).
156.75 m
Within its recent range. Steady over the past few days. Measured 29 Jul, 14:35.
The official flood warning is at the Government of the Northwest Territories
These numbers describe the lake level. They are not a flood warning — the official flood call for this area is made by the Government of the Northwest Territories.
This page describes the lake level. The flood watches, warnings and evacuation alerts — who should leave and when — come from the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Town of Hay River, not from a number here. During spring break-up, the official channel is NWT Alert (nwtalert.ca, or the Alertable app); follow the Town of Hay River's updates as well.
Hay River is the Hub of the North because this is where southern rail and highway meet northern water. The Marine Transportation Services barges that resupply the Mackenzie communities load at the Vale Island docks, and the West Channel fishing fleet works off the same shore — both of which care about how high the lake is sitting. Low-water years on Great Slave Lake have squeezed barge sailings and made some channels harder to work, so the level is a working number for the port and the fishery, not just a flood one.
The town floods at the river mouth, where the Hay River splits into channels and empties into the lake. A high lake sitting against that mouth leaves the spring break-up nowhere to drain, so lake level and river ice work together: the 2022 ice-jam flood that put much of Old Town and Vale Island underwater came when water backed up at the delta. A calm lake number is reassuring, but during break-up the ice — and the official warning — is still the thing to watch.
Station 07OB002 (“Great Slave Lake at Hay River”) reads the lake right at the town, on the north side of the peninsula near the harbour. It measures level only — there is no flow number for a lake. New Town sits on high ground and stays dry; Old Town, Vale Island and the West Channel fishing community are low and flood first.
Checked 29 Jul, 15:30. Water-level data from the Water Survey of Canada (Environment and Climate Change Canada), under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Real-time readings are provisional and unvalidated, and may later be revised.