The flow monitoring history in the oil sands region started in 1930 with a couple of stations in the Clearwater River and Horse River, the main tributaries to the Athabasca River from the right bank. However, most of the flow and water level monitoring stations in this region were established in the 1970’s. The flow monitoring in the main stem of the Athabasca River started in 1957 with a hydrometric station below Fort McMurray which is still active and has about 53 years’ of flow record.

There have been about 16 stations (13 with flow and 3 with water level) in this area, with more than 20 years of record. Out of these, 14 stations are still operational, and about 11 stations are equipped with the real-time water level and flow data collecting capability. Due to the complexity of winter monitoring, most of the stations only operate during the open water season (March to October). However, the hydrometric station in the Athabasca River below Fort McMurray (07DA001) and the station in the Clearwater River at Draper (07CD001) are currently operational for the entire year.