WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Barnston River near the Mouth in NT, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
Barnston River near the Mouth is a gauged river in the Great Slave Lake - East Arm North Shore watershed, NT.
This reach runs on subarctic timing. The highest typical month is July, at 7.81 m (25.62 ft), while the lowest typical month is April, at 7.19 m (23.58 ft). For anyone with a dock, intake, or landing spot on this river, that is a modest but real seasonal shift, and it matters most when summer use and spring ice conditions overlap.
The drainage area above the station is 1,686 km2 (651 sq mi). That is the upstream area feeding this gauge, so changes in snow, rain, and runoff from that catchment show up here first.
The typical annual swing is 62.3 cm (24.5 in). That is not a huge range for a northern river, but it is enough to change edge conditions at a dock and the margin under a shallow crossing.
The record high is 8.69 m (28.5 ft) in June 2021. The record low is 6.82 m (22.37 ft) in January 2011. Those two marks give this station a useful envelope: the river has shown both a June peak and a winter low, which tells you the reach can move a fair distance over the course of a year.
With 15 years on record, the station has enough history to show the main seasonal pattern, and enough events to put a current reading in context. If you are watching for flood risk or access changes, the record high is the upper bound to keep in mind; if you are planning winter use, the record low is the lower edge of what the gauge has seen.
The hero number on this page is best read as today’s level against the median for this calendar day across the station’s record. That is more useful than raw elevation on its own, because 7.81 m (25.62 ft) in July does not mean the same thing as 7.81 m (25.62 ft) in April. The median shows whether the river is running high, low, or near its usual mark for this date.
For this station, the comparison is anchored in 15 years of observations. That gives you a practical read on whether today’s water level is ordinary for the season, or sitting near the edges of what this gauge has already shown.
Readings come from official government gauges and are rolled into daily records: the daily mean, high and low for every day on record. Each calendar day gets its own baseline from the full history, so the level you see is compared against what this specific date usually looks like rather than an annual average.
Real-time water levels, forecasts, and alerts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK. Built on official government data.
Nibi Metrics tracks more than 13,000 gauged lakes and rivers across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, and the Environment Agency for England. Every number on the platform is measured, not modelled - taken from a government gauge on the water itself and compared against that location's own historical record for this exact date.
The level right now, in feet or metres, updated as the source agency publishes new readings - for many stations that is every five to fifteen minutes. How today compares to typical: every location carries its own typical-for-this-date band built from its historical record, so a reading is never just a number - it is above, below, or near what this water usually does on this calendar day. Which way it is moving: a measured RISING, FALLING, or STEADY verdict computed from the gauge's own recent readings, with the rate of change - the difference between a flood ending and one beginning. What comes next: level forecasts up to 72 hours ahead, driven by the gauge's recent behaviour, upstream water, and quantitative precipitation forecasts, alongside live radar, lightning, and weather for the surrounding region.
Set a threshold on any location - a level, a distance above typical, or a rate of climb - and Nibi emails or notifies you the moment the gauge crosses it. Cottagers use it for spring freshet, anglers for river conditions, marinas and municipalities for operations. The scanning runs around the clock against the same measured data shown on every page.
Nibi means water in Anishinaabemowin. The platform began at a family cottage on Lake Muskoka, Ontario, where the spring melt floods the shoreline most years and the only forecast was standing on the dock, looking, and guessing. It grew into an independent, member-funded platform run by Muskoka Research Inc. - no investors, no data resale, and a privacy policy shorter than most cookie banners. The core data is free for everyone, forever; paid plans add automation like multi-location alerts, deep history, and reports.
Nibi spans the continent: every Canadian province and territory with active federal gauges - from Vancouver Island rivers to the Muskoka lakes, prairie reservoirs, and Quebec's hydrometric network - and the United States from Maine to the Texas Hill Country, the Ohio Valley, and the Pacific Northwest. Coverage grows where the water news is: when a basin floods, its gauges join the platform with their full historical records attached. Many stations report every five to fifteen minutes; most report at least hourly; every page states exactly when its gauge last spoke.
The core promise is simple: the water data is free, for everyone, forever. Live levels, maps, radar, and recent history never sit behind a paywall. Paid plans fund the platform by adding automation - multi-location alerts, decades of history, longer forecasts, and PDF reports - so the people who need more carry the cost for everyone who just needs to check the lake before driving up. There are no investors and no advertising deals shaping what the data says.
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