Forecasts for 2026-05-03

River conditions forecasts posted on 2026-05-03 by Ottawa River Regulating Committee

Spring runoff remains very high in the northern part of the basin due to recent rain and melting snow. Water levels and flows are stabilizing from Mattawa to Pembroke and have reached a plateau downstream, from Lac Coulonge down to the Montreal Region. Water levels and flows are expected to remain stable over the next few days and to slowly start declining later next week. Because a large volume of water is still expected to come from the northern part of the basin, water levels are expected to remain generally high along the main stem of the river over the next two weeks. The risk of further increases in levels over the coming weeks due to high spring runoff from the northern portion of the basin remains higher from Mattawa to Lake Coulonge.