Cowichan Lake near Lake Cowichan water level

Name: Cowichan Lake near Lake Cowichan 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

Lake, Cowichan Lake, British Columbia, Canada

Directions

Low for mid-October

Water level

0.51m Down 0.01 m over the last 24 hours

Measured Oct 20, 2026, 07:10 PM PDT (38 min ago)

History

7 days 30 days 10 years Years compared

202020212022202320242026

Water level Normal range (10–90 %)

What this means

At 0.51 m, Cowichan Lake near Lake Cowichan is below normal for mid-October.

That puts it 0.55 m below the median of 1.06 m for mid-October, based on 11 years of readings.

The level is falling, down 0.01 m over the past 24 hours. With the water still dropping, the shoreline keeps moving out. Over the past 30 days it has moved between 0.49 m and 0.60 m.

Lakes and reservoirs often sit lower in fall after a summer of evaporation and use, and recover with winter rain and spring snowmelt.

Compared with 11 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels

Key numbers

Median for this date: 1.06 m0.55 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date: 0.50 m – 1.91 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (11 years of records)
Lowest and highest in 30 days: 0.49 m – 0.60 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months: 0.52 m – 0.61 m

Swimming and boating at Cowichan Lake near Lake Cowichan

Low water changes a lake fast for boaters. Some ramps get shorter or close, docks may be moved, and rocks and sandbars that are usually well under the surface come within reach of a prop.

If you swim, pick a spot with an easy way out, and remember that drop-offs move as the level changes.

Weather at the gauge

Rain in the last 3 days: 1.1 mm.

20 Tue 17° 5° – Wind 17 km/h

21 Wed 19° 8° – Wind 12 km/h

22 Thu 15° 7° 0.4 mm Wind 10 km/h

23 Fri 15° 4° – Wind 4 km/h

24 Sat 15° 5° – Wind 5 km/h

25 Sun 16° 6° – Wind 5 km/h

26 Mon 17° 8° – Wind 5 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:46 AM Sunset 06:17 PM Daylight 10 hr, 30 min Waxing gibbous 73%

Map

Nearby gauges

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
Cowichan River at Lake CowichanRiver gauge, Cowichan River	0.30 m	Very low	±0	0.6 km
Harris Creek near Lake CowichanRiver gauge, Harris Creek	1.33 m	Very low	−0.01 m	17 km
Cottonwood Creek HeadwatersRiver gauge	0.64 m	Very low	−0.01 m	18 km
Jump Creek at the MouthRiver gauge, Jump Creek	0.81 m	Low	±0	24 km
Bings Creek near the MouthRiver gauge, Bings Creek	1.36 m	Very low	±0	25 km
Cowichan River near DuncanRiver gauge, Cowichan River	0.30 m	Low	±0	26 km
South Nanaimo River near JunctionRiver gauge, South Nanaimo River	2.19 m	Low	±0	27 km
Chemainus River near WestholmeRiver gauge, Chemainus River	0.61 m	Normal	±0	27 km

Questions and answers

What is a normal level for Cowichan Lake near Lake Cowichan in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 1.06 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.50 m and 1.91 m, based on 11 years of records.

What is the water level of Cowichan Lake near Lake Cowichan today?

On Oct 20, 2026, 07:10 PM PDT, the water level was 0.51 m. Down 0.01 m over the last 24 hours.

Is Cowichan Lake near Lake Cowichan rising or falling?

Down 0.01 m over the last 24 hours. Down 0.04 m over the last 7 days.

Is the level of Cowichan Lake near Lake Cowichan normal?

Low for mid-October. Compared with 11 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:08HA009 (Agency page)
Coordinates: 48.82440, -124.06153 (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	0.51 m	2026-10-21 02:10	Provisional

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How to cite

Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada: Cowichan Lake near Lake Cowichan (eccc:08HA009). Accessed October 21, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/canada/british-columbia/cowichan-lake-near-lake-cowichan

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