More than 160 people were moved from the Aklavik area to higher ground Saturday after the Mackenzie River threatened to overflow its banks.

Most of the evacuees were taken to Inuvik, 60 kilometres east.

RCMP in the Northwest Territories said homes and businesses in Aklavik remain dry, but the waters are rising and some roads are already flooded. Water levels haven't been this high since 1992.

Aklavik is a community of some 750 Gwich'in and Inuvialuit, located about 100 kilometres south of the Arctic coast on the Mackenzie River delta.

It was the government's regional centre until the mid-1950s when the townsite was moved to Inuvik because of frequent spring floods. But some residents remained in their old homes.