Kootenay Region River Flows — 2026-07-02

Active page — expires 2026-07-04

Time-sensitive, not persistent knowledge. Refreshed in place; do not cite from wiki/ pages. All readings are provisional (WSC real-time QA flag 1) and subject to revision.

Snapshot

As of 2026-07-02 ~15:05–15:40 PDT (fetched 23:31 UTC). A rain/late-freshet pulse crested June 29–30 on the Elk, Kootenay, Bull and St. Mary; every gauge is now on the falling limb.

Water	Gauge (WSC)	Latest	24 h	7 d	Read
Kootenay River at Fort Steele	08NG065	578 m³/s	▼ −10%	▲ +24%	falling off the Jun 30 crest
Elk River at Fernie	08NK002	156 m³/s	▼ −19%	▲ +64%	dropping fast, still well up
Bull River near Wardner	08NG002	64 m³/s	▼ −10%	−3%	pulse fully receded
St. Mary River below Morris Ck	08NG077	18 m³/s	▼ −17%	−7%	Jun 30 spike gone
Moyie River above Noke Ck	08NH139	1.8 m³/s	▼ −8%	−24%	very low, steady recession
Goat River — no live gauge; proxy: Arrow Ck nr Erickson	08NH084	1.0 m³/s	▼ −6%	−13%	low and receding
Kootenay Lake at Kuskonook	08NH067	level 532.05 m	−0.02 m	−0.15 m	lake dropping (level only)

What it means for fishing now

Rivers are the call. The Reading River Flows (Before You Go) rule — high/murky → lakes, dropping/clear → rivers — points at rivers: everything is on a clean falling limb.
Elk River needs another day or two. −19% in 24 h but still ~64% above last week; the Bull River and St. Mary River are already back to base and should be in shape first.
Moyie River and Goat River are skinny. ~1–2 m³/s is stealth water — long leaders, small water tactics (Small-Stream Dry-Fly for Cutthroat).
No rain in the forecast and a heat spike coming (Kootenay Weather Outlook — Jul 2–8, 2026) — flows keep dropping and water temps climb; favour mornings as the week runs on.

Gauge reference (durable — promote to wiki)

Station IDs resolved 2026-07-02: Kootenay/Fort Steele 08NG065, Elk/Fernie 08NK002, Bull/Wardner 08NG002, St. Mary/below Morris Ck 08NG077, Moyie/above Noke Ck 08NH139, Arrow Ck/Erickson 08NH084, Kootenay Lk/Kuskonook 08NH067 (level only).
Datamart path moved: dd.weather.gc.ca/hydrometric/... now 404s — use dd.weather.gc.ca/today/hydrometric/csv/BC/hourly/BC_<ID>_hourly_hydrometric.csv (and .../daily/ for ~30 days).
No real-time Goat River gauge exists — nearest proxy is Arrow Creek near Erickson. Check the HYDAT archive for a discontinued Goat station.

Promote?

Gauge IDs → each river's wiki page; datamart URL change → Reading River Flows (Before You Go).