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The live level and flow of the Ottawa River at Britannia from the federal gauge, how today compares with the past month, and the official flood-forecast and warning channels.
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The Ottawa River shapes the city — and in a high spring it can flood it. This page shows the river's live level and flow at Britannia, in the city's west end, from the official federal gauge, and where today sits against the past month. It is not a flood warning: when the water is rising, the forecast and warning channels below are the ones to follow.
57.83 m
Low for the river’s recent range. Steady over the past few days. Measured Aug 23, 8:35 p.m..
The official flood warning is at Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board
These numbers describe the river. They are not a flood warning — the official flood-vigilance level for this station is set by Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board.
The Board publishes the main river's levels and a weekly flood-risk forecast for the Ottawa River. It issues forecasts and advisories; the formal flood Watches and Warnings, and the on-the-ground emergency response, come from the conservation authorities and the City — all linked below.
In spring 2019 the Ottawa River reached its highest level on record through the city, cresting around 2 May; at Britannia it peaked at 60.70 m — 34 cm above the 2017 high of 60.44 m. The City of Ottawa declared a state of emergency from 25 April to 12 June 2019. Constance Bay, West Carleton and Cumberland were hit hardest, while Britannia's berm largely held. Ontario's independent review rated 2019 a roughly one-in-100-year flood — and 2017, just two years earlier, was nearly as large.
The reading is the river's surface height in metres above sea level — a geodetic elevation, not its depth. At Britannia the water normally sits near 58 m; the 2019 flood crested at 60.70 m. What matters day to day is how the level is moving and how it compares with recent days and past floods — which is what this page shows.
More than 50 dams and 13 reservoirs upstream are coordinated to even out the Ottawa River's flow and take the edge off floods. But around 60% of the river's basin has no storage, so in a wet spring the system can soften a flood — not prevent it. That is what 2017 and 2019 showed.
Checked Aug 23, 9:48 p.m.. River 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.
the Ottawa River: 57.83 m
low for recent days · steady