Coppermine River below Desteffany Lake water level

Name: Coppermine River below Desteffany Lake water level (Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada)
Creator: Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada
License: https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada

River gauge, Coppermine River, Northwest Territories, Canada

Directions

Normal for mid-October

Water level

6.25m Steady over the last 24 hours

Measured Oct 19, 2026, 02:15 PM MDT (1 hour ago)

Flow: 22.4 m³/s

History

7 days 30 days

Water level Normal range (10–90 %)

What this means

Water levels are unremarkable at Coppermine River below Desteffany Lake, where the gauge shows 6.25 m.

That puts it 0.05 m below the median of 6.30 m for mid-October, based on 20 years of readings.

The level has held steady over the past 24 hours. The 30-day range is 6.23 m – 6.26 m.

Fall is often low-water season on rivers, until steadier rain returns.

Compared with 20 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels

Key numbers

Median for this date: 6.30 m0.05 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date: 6.19 m – 6.56 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (20 years of records)
Lowest and highest in 30 days: 6.23 m – 6.26 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months: 6.23 m – 6.25 m

Freshet, ice and paddling

Open-water season is the time for canoe trips and fishing, though rapids change character with every few centimetres of water.

Flood advisories come from the provincial river forecast centre.

About the Coppermine River

The Coppermine River is a river in the North Slave and Kitikmeot regions of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada. It is 845 kilometres (525 mi) long. It rises in Lac de Gras, a small lake near Great Slave Lake, and flows generally north to Coronation Gulf, an arm of the Arctic Ocean. The river freezes in winter but may still flow under the ice.

Weather at the gauge

Rain in the last 3 days: 26 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.

19 Mon -4° -6° 1.9 mm, 90% Wind 24 km/h

20 Tue -1° -6° – Wind 26 km/h

21 Wed 2° -1° – Wind 25 km/h

22 Thu -2° -8° – Wind 19 km/h

23 Fri -6° -9° – Wind 6 km/h

24 Sat -4° -9° – Wind 14 km/h

25 Sun -2° -10° 0.5 mm Wind 22 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 08:33 AM Sunset 05:54 PM Daylight 9 hr, 22 min First quarter 62%

Map

Other gauges on the Coppermine River

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
Coppermine River at Outlet of Point LakeRiver gauge, Coppermine River	93.0 m³/s	Normal	+1.10 m³/s	131 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
Yamba River below Daring LakeRiver gauge, Yamba River	3.90 m	Normal	−0.04 m	25 km

Questions and answers

What is a normal level for the Coppermine River below Desteffany Lake in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 6.30 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 6.19 m and 6.56 m, based on 20 years of records.

Is the river level the same as the depth of the water?

No. The reading is measured from a fixed zero mark at the gauge, so 6.25 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Coppermine River below Desteffany Lake today?

On Oct 19, 2026, 02:15 PM MDT, the water level was 6.25 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Coppermine River below Desteffany Lake rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours. Steady over the last 7 days.

Is the level of Coppermine River below Desteffany Lake normal?

Normal for mid-October. Compared with 20 years of daily readings for this time of year.

How often is this data updated?

Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada publishes a new reading every hour. This page refreshes within minutes of each update.

Where does this data come from?

The values come directly from Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada, the official operator of this gauge, and are published under the Open Government Licence – Canada. We do not estimate or model live values.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads

Operator: Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada
Station code: eccc:10PA001 (Agency page)
Coordinates: 64.61575, -111.95464 (WGS84)
Vertical datum: station datum (assumed datum)
Update interval: every hour
Licence: Open Government Licence – Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada

Published series

Parameter	Last value	Time (UTC)	Quality
Water level	6.25 m	2026-10-19 20:15	Provisional
Flow	22.4 m³/s	2026-10-19 20:15	Provisional

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How to cite

Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada: Coppermine River below Desteffany Lake (eccc:10PA001). Accessed October 19, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/canada/northwest-territories/coppermine-river-below-desteffany-lake

How we check values

Each reading is stored as published. We hold back values that jump faster than physically plausible and show the measurement time with every value.

Readings are provisional, can be delayed or wrong and are not a flood warning. Read the disclaimer