Hay River Level & Flood Watch

The live level and flow of the Hay River from the Water Survey of Canada gauge, with the spring break-up flood story and the official warning channel.

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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

At break-up, ice jams are the real driver — not just high water

Hay River's worst flooding comes in spring, when the river ice breaks up and jams in the delta channels at the river mouth, backing water up fast into the low parts of town. In May 2022 an ice-jam flood put much of Old Town and Vale Island underwater and forced nearly the whole town and the Kátł'odeeche First Nation to evacuate. A reading that looks ordinary can still turn dangerous within hours once the ice starts to move, which is why the official warning — not this gauge — is the thing to watch during break-up.

Where this gauge sits

Station 07OB001 reads the Hay River a short way upstream (south) of town, near the highway. It shows how much water the river is bringing down toward Great Slave Lake. The flooding that hits Old Town and Vale Island happens downstream of here, where the river splits into channels at the mouth and the ice jams — so a calm number on this page is not the whole picture during break-up.

Which parts of town flood first

New Town sits on high ground — it was built there after the catastrophic 1963 flood — and generally stays dry. Old Town, Vale Island (which holds the airport and the barge docks) and the West Channel fishing community are low-lying and flood first. The Kátł'odeeche First Nation reserve across the river has effectively one road out, which went underwater in the 2022 flood — worth remembering early if water is rising.

Official channels

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

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

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