About

What this is, how to read it

What this is

Fisher River Watch is an independent community-facing dashboard that reads federal gauge data (Water Survey of Canada) and translates it into plain language — the interpretation layer the raw data has always needed. The readings have existed publicly for years; what has been missing is a place to see them in context, compared against past flood years, for the communities directly affected.

Built and operated by Lisa Kaminski at iConnect Studio, as a companion to Dauphin Lake Watch.

Official channels

Fisher River Watch complements — and points toward — the official channels below. For forecasts, evacuation orders, and emergency response guidance:

Manitoba Flood Information — provincial bulletins and forecasts
Manitoba news releases — HFC flood bulletins
Peguis First Nation — community updates
Canadian Red Cross Manitoba — emergency support

How to read this page

CFS

Cubic feet per second — how much water passes the gauge every second. A quiet Fisher River is around 80 cfs. A serious flood year is 700+ cfs. The 2022 peak was 1,377 cfs.

Stage

How deep the water is at the gauge point — not the whole river. Higher stage = deeper water at that spot.

Cascade

The Fisher River flows south to north through the basin, turning east near its mouth to drain into Fisher Bay on Lake Winnipeg. Water passes East Fisher first, then Dallas, then Fisherton — the last gauge before Peguis First Nation and Fisher River Cree Nation. When upstream gauges rise, Fisherton follows within 24–48 hours. That lag is the early warning.

Benchmarks (2017 · 2014 · 2022)

Reference peaks shown on the dashboard are measured at the Fisherton gauge, about 15 km upstream of Peguis. Flood years were 2014 (100+ displaced), 2017 (moderate evacuation), and 2022 (1,000+ evacuated, 700+ homes damaged).

About the readings

Flow and stage values are provisional Water Survey of Canada data and can be revised later in the season. Provincial bulletins reference community-facing flood depths, which differ from gauge-point readings. Fisher River Watch shows what the water is doing at the gauge; official provincial guidance describes what it means at the community.