French River at Hartley Bay water level

Name: French River at Hartley Bay 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, French River, Ontario, Canada

Directions

Low for mid-October

Surface elevation

177.56m Up 0.09 m over the last 24 hours

Measured Oct 19, 2026, 12:25 AM EDT (2 hours ago)

History

7 days 30 days 1 year Years compared

20252026

Surface elevation Normal range (10–90 %)

What this means

The French River at Hartley Bay is running below normal at 177.56 m.

That puts it 0.65 m below the median of 178.21 m for mid-October, based on 19 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 177.22 m (+0.34 m).

It has risen 0.09 m over the past 24 hours. In the last month it has stayed between 177.21 m and 177.56 m.

Fall is often low-water season on rivers, and it usually takes a few days of steady rain to change that.

Compared with 19 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels

Key numbers

Median for this date: 178.21 m0.65 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date: 177.26 m – 179.18 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (19 years of records)
Same day last year: 177.22 m+0.34 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days: 177.21 m – 177.56 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months: 177.22 m – 178.98 m

On the river

Outside the spring freshet, most rivers settle into a gentler pattern, broken by storms.

Flood advisories come from the provincial river forecast centre.

About the French River

The French River is a river in Central Ontario, Canada. It flows 110 kilometres (68 mi) from Lake Nipissing southwest to Georgian Bay. The river largely follows the boundary between the Parry Sound District and the Sudbury District, and in most contexts is considered the dividing line between Northern and Southern Ontario. The French River was designated a Canadian Heritage River in 1986.

Weather at the gauge

Rain in the last 3 days: 6.9 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.

18 Sun 15° 4° – Wind 31 km/h

19 Mon 16° 7° – Wind 18 km/h

20 Tue 14° 1° – Wind 11 km/h

21 Wed 14° 4° – Wind 16 km/h

22 Thu 16° 6° – Wind 8 km/h

23 Fri 15° 4° – Wind 9 km/h

24 Sat 14° 5° – Wind 20 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:46 AM Sunset 06:31 PM Daylight 10 hr, 46 min First quarter 56%

Map

Other gauges on the French River

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
French River at Dry Pine BayRiver gauge, French River	1.03 m	Normal	+0.05 m	12 km
French River at Recollet FallsRiver gauge, French River	97.4 m³/s	Very low	+6.50 m³/s	12 km
French River at Little French CutRiver gauge, French River	1.39 m³/s	Low	+0.39 m³/s	17 km
French River at Horseshoe FallsRiver gauge, French River	10.4 m³/s	Very low	+1.16 m³/s	22 km
French River at Wolseley BayRiver gauge, French River	186.73 m	Normal	−0.04 m	39 km
French River at Chaudiere DamRiver gauge, French River	187.79 m	Low	±0	57 km
French River below Portage DamRiver gauge, French River	90.6 m³/s	Low	+0.90 m³/s	58 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
Wanapitei River at Highway 637River gauge, Wanapitei River	15.90 m	Low	+0.06 m	19 km
Pickerel River above Cantin LakeRiver gauge, Pickerel River	16.72 m	Low	−0.01 m	28 km
Wanapitei River near WanupRiver gauge, Wanapitei River	1.71 m	Normal	−0.02 m	35 km
Magnetawan River near BrittRiver gauge, Magnetawan River	25.00 m	Very low	±0	36 km
Dollars Lake below S NarrowsLake, Dollars Lake	7.60 m	Very low	±0	42 km

Questions and answers

How does the French River at Hartley Bay compare with last year?

It is 0.34 m higher than on the same day last year, when the reading was 177.22 m.

What is a normal level for the French River at Hartley Bay in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 178.21 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 177.26 m and 179.18 m, based on 19 years of records.

Is French River at Hartley Bay really 177.56 m deep?

No. 177.56 m is the height of the water surface above sea level (or the agency's vertical datum), not the depth of the water.

What is the water level of French River at Hartley Bay today?

On Oct 19, 2026, 12:25 AM EDT, the surface elevation was 177.56 m. Up 0.09 m over the last 24 hours.

Is French River at Hartley Bay rising or falling?

Up 0.09 m over the last 24 hours. Up 0.34 m over the last 7 days.

Is the level of French River at Hartley Bay normal?

Low for mid-October. Compared with 19 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.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads

Operator: Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada
Station code: eccc:02DD025 (Agency page)
Coordinates: 46.03522, -80.76011 (WGS84)
Vertical datum: GEODETIC SURVEY OF CANADA 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
Surface elevation	177.56 m	2026-10-19 04:25	Provisional

Download

Embed this gauge

Add a live card for this gauge to your website. It updates on its own and links back here.

<iframe src="https://nivelmap.com/embed/19571?lang=en" width="360" height="230" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy" title="French River at Hartley Bay water level"></iframe>

How to cite

Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada: French River at Hartley Bay (eccc:02DD025). Accessed October 19, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/canada/ontario/french-river-at-hartley-bay

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