Ottawa River at Britannia water level

Name: Ottawa River at Britannia 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, Ottawa River, Ontario, Canada

Directions

Low for mid-October

Surface elevation

57.83m Steady over the last 24 hours

Measured Oct 18, 2026, 04:35 PM EDT (34 min ago)

Flow: 590 m³/s

History

7 days 30 days

Surface elevation Normal range (10–90 %)

What this means

The Ottawa River at Britannia is running below normal at 57.83 m.

That puts it 0.28 m below the median of 58.11 m for mid-October, based on 20 years of readings.

The level has held steady over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. In the last month it has stayed between 57.65 m and 57.94 m.

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

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

Key numbers

Median for this date: 58.11 m0.28 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date: 57.63 m – 58.52 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (20 years of records)
Lowest and highest in 30 days: 57.65 m – 57.94 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months: 57.68 m – 57.93 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 Ottawa River

The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border between these two provinces. It is a major tributary of the St. Lawrence River and the longest river in Quebec.

Weather at the gauge

Rain in the last 3 days: 16 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.

18 Sun 13° 0° – Wind 18 km/h

19 Mon 15° 6° – Wind 19 km/h

20 Tue 14° 4° – Wind 14 km/h

21 Wed 12° 2° – Wind 9 km/h

22 Thu 14° 4° – Wind 21 km/h

23 Fri 10° 0° – Wind 12 km/h

24 Sat 11° 0° – Wind 12 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:24 AM Sunset 06:14 PM Daylight 10 hr, 51 min First quarter 53%

Map

Nearby gauges

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
Graham Creek at NepeanRiver gauge, Graham Creek	0.88 m	High	−0.02 m	1.7 km
Rideau River at OttawaRiver gauge, Rideau River	3.39 m	Very high	±0	11 km
Jock River near RichmondRiver gauge, Jock River	6.57 m	Very high	−0.03 m	12 km
Rivière des Outaouais à HullRiver gauge, Rivière des Outaouais	41.29 m	Low	+0.07 m	13 km
Rideau River above Rideau FallsRiver gauge, Rideau River	5.00 m	Very high	±0	14 km
Rideau River below ManotickRiver gauge, Rideau River	4.39 m	Very high	−0.02 m	15 km
Carp River near KinburnRiver gauge, Carp River	5.04 m	Very high	−0.06 m	30 km
Mississippi River at AppletonRiver gauge, Mississippi River	1.74 m	High	+0.03 m	30 km

Questions and answers

What is a normal level for the Ottawa River at Britannia in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 58.11 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 57.63 m and 58.52 m, based on 20 years of records.

Is Ottawa River at Britannia really 57.83 m deep?

No. 57.83 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 Ottawa River at Britannia today?

On Oct 18, 2026, 04:35 PM EDT, the surface elevation was 57.83 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Ottawa River at Britannia rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours. Up 0.15 m over the last 7 days.

Is the level of Ottawa River at Britannia normal?

Low 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:02KF005 (Agency page)
Coordinates: 45.35125, -75.82666 (WGS84)
Vertical datum: CANADIAN GEODETIC VERTICAL DATUM 1928:EPOCH1997
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	57.83 m	2026-10-18 20:35	Provisional
Flow	590 m³/s	2026-10-18 20:35	Provisional

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How to cite

Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada: Ottawa River at Britannia (eccc:02KF005). Accessed October 18, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/canada/ontario/ottawa-river-at-britannia

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