Great Slave Lake Level

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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About these tools

Town Tools builds free, public tools for Hay River and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.

Worth knowing

Why the lake level matters here

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.

How the lake ties into flooding

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.

Where this gauge sits

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.

Official channels

NWT Alert — the territory's emergency alert systemThe official place evacuation, flood and fire alerts are issued for the NWT. Also the free Alertable app on your phone.

GNWT — flood informationThe territorial government's flood-awareness and spring break-up information.

Town of Hay RiverThe Town posts local emergency updates and public-works notices during high water.