Your Link to Muskoka's Water!
Checking Water Levels on Your Lake
NEW! Muskoka GeoHub's Floodline and LiDAR Mapping application now features a water level station layer that shows the water levels in Muskoka in real time! That means you can check the water levels in Muskoka right from your own home. Water levels are updated daily using information from Natural Resources Canada.
The MNRF participates in a cost sharing program with Environment Canada to maintain automatic water level monitoring stations on many of the larger lakes in the district. These stations are part of the Real-Time Hydrometric Network. This information can be accessed for the lakes listed below at The Government of Canada - Water Office Real-Time Hydrometric Data.
- Fairy Lake at Huntsville [02EB016] (Huntsville Lakes)
- Go Home Lake near Potters Landing [02EB023]
- Kawagama Lake at Russell Landing [02EB017]
- Lake Muskoka at Beaumaris [02EB018]
- Lake of Bays at Baysville [02EB019]
- Lake Rosseau at Port Carling [02EB020] (Lakes Rosseau and Joseph)
- Mary Lake at Port Sydney [02EB021]
Click on the link above and obtain the current water level value for the lake you are interested in. You must then add a unique conversion factor to the water level value obtained in order to determine the ACTUAL water level reading (elevation above sea level, in meters) for each lake. Actual water level values can then be compared to the annual lake operating plan chart of interest.
Add the Conversion Factor to the water level value from the Real -Time Water Level Network to determine the actual water level reading for one of the seven lakes listed.
Water Level Monitoring Station |
Conversion Factor |
| Fairy Lake (part of Huntsville Lakes Chart) | 277.290 |
| Go Home Lake near Potters Landing | 0.0000 |
| Kawagama Lake | 346.085 |
| Lake Muskoka at Beaumaris | 215.950 |
| Lake of Bays at Baysville | 304.841 |
| Lake Rosseau at Port Carling | 217.120 |
| Mary Lake at Port Sydney | 272.066 |
A number of smaller lakes are not part of the real-time water level network. The MNRF has built partnerships with cottager associations and volunteers to provide water level readings on their lake. These partnerships benefit both the MNRF and the shoreline landowners.
Operating Regime & Daily Procedures
On a daily basis, Ministry of Natural Resources water control technicians in Parry Sound District collect, compile and analyze water levels, flows and other environmental information on a number of watersheds including the Muskoka River.
Once all of the information has been collected and evaluated, water control operations are scheduled at locations where they are needed most. Water control technicians alter levels and flows by placing or removing control stop logs from dams depending on the seasonal objectives identified in the MRWMP and respective Annual Lake Operating Plans.
An example of a typical Annual Operating Plan for a lake within the Muskoka River watershed is illustrated below.
The range of water levels between the yellow lines represents the seasonal Normal Operating Range. This is the range of water levels that dam operators are required to stay within under normal watershed conditions. However during high flow or drought periods, water levels may go over or under the Normal Operating Range.
The Preferred Operating Level is represented by the green line. Dam operations are conducted in a manner to best achieve these seasonal levels as watershed conditions permit. Extreme high water (flood) and low water (drought) conditions are represented by the upper and lower red lines.
Annual Operating Plans
To view the Annual Operating Plan for your lake, click on the lake name below:
Lakes within the Muskoka River Watershed
- Buck Lake
- Camp Lake
- Fox Lake
- Go Home Lake
- Huntsville Lakes (Vernon, Peninsula & Fairy)
- Kawagama Lake
- Lake of Bays
- Mary Lake
- Lake Muskoka
- Lake Rosseau & Lake Joseph
- Skeleton Lake
- Tasso Lake
- Wood Lake
Lakes outside of the Muskoka River Watershed
Muskoka River Watershed
From its headwaters in Algonquin Park , the Muskoka River system flows through a series of lakes which eventually flow into Georgian Bay . There are 42 water control structures (dams) within the Muskoka River watershed that are used to control and maintain water levels on the lakes and rivers throughout the watershed. Of these structures, 29 are owned/operated by the Ministry of Natural Resources and 11 are owned/operated by the waterpower industry. The District Municipality of Muskoka owns and operates one dam while the remaining structure is privately owned/operated.
Please take the time to look at the following control structure schematic and other watershed illustrations. Consider how the coordinated management of water level and flow objectives by the various partners committed to the Muskoka River Water Management Plan might influence the use and enjoyment of the lake or river you live on.
Water Levels Throughout the Year
Spring
The Muskoka River Water Management Plan allows for initially higher spring water levels resulting from the melting snow, with a gradual release of water throughout the late spring and summer period. High water levels in early spring are natural occurrences which help to recharge groundwater supplies, transfer nutrients and sediments to wetlands and shoreline riparian zones, and provides spring spawning fish and amphibians with access to wetlands and shoreline habitats.
The slow, gradual decline in water levels throughout the spring provides fish and amphibians with enough water to spawn within near shore habitat and for the hatched young to return to the main waterbody. Spring water levels are restricted to a level that reduces potential damage to docks and boathouses.
Summer
During the summer, the objective of the Muskoka River Water Management Plan is to maintain waterways at levels which allow for continued recreational use of lakes and rivers while at the same time maintaining water levels in sensitive aquatic environments. A gradual reduction in water levels in the summer ensures that downstream river flows are maintained through periods of hot weather and low precipitation.
Fall and Winter
Prior to the implementation of the Muskoka River Water Management Plan , many of the lakes controlled by dams were significantly lowered over the winter to maximize their capacity to store flood waters during the spring snow melt period. However advances in the understanding of lake trout biology through initiatives such as the Kawagama Lake Project have shown that lake trout eggs and/or fry were likely being exposed when winter drawdown levels were too low.
The current operating strategy for lake trout lakes is to reduce the extent of the winter drawdown of lake levels in order to protect eggs and fry. However, if a high water or flood event is anticipated, lake levels are lowered to a greater extent in order to protect shoreline property and reduce the potential for flooding.
Fisheries Projects
To learn more about fisheries projects which influenced the approach to water level management in the Muskoka River Water Management Plan, click on the links below:
The goal of water management planning is to contribute to the environmental, social and economic well being of the people of Ontario through the sustainable development of waterpower resources and to manage these resources in an ecologically sustainable way for the benefit of present and future generations.
Local waterpower companies (Ontario Power Generation, Orillia Power Generation Corporation, Algonquin Power Fund Inc. and Bracebridge Generation Ltd) worked with the Ministry of Natural Resources to develop a water management plan for the Muskoka River watershed. The Muskoka River Water Management Plan (MRWMP), which was implemented in 2006, takes an ecosystem-based approach to water management by considering the interests and concerns of all water users within the watershed (e.g. fish, wildlife, navigation, hydro generation, recreation, flood control etc.).
The Muskoka River Water Management Plan includes:
Operational plans for each waterpower facility or water control structure (dam)
Legally enforceable provisions for the management of flows and water levels
Compliance monitoring to ensure that waterpower industry facilities are meeting the requirements of the plan
Effectiveness monitoring program to determine whether the implementation of the plan results in the anticipated ecological and social improvements.
MRWMP Final Plan Report
Plan updated December 2019, uploaded December 17, 2020