The IMB-3 experiment was a large water Cherenkov ring imaging detector with a fiducial mass of 3.3 kton. During a 7.6-kton-year exposure ({approximately}4.6{times}10{sup 33}thinspnucleonthinspyr) 935 contained events were observed. The observed rate and characteristics are consistent with the expected backgrounds from atmospheric neutrinos. Lower limits on the nucleon lifetime are set for a wide variety of proposed decay modes. {copyright} {ital 1999} {ital The American Physical Society}