Bayou Lafourche SW of Donaldsonville Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Bayou Lafourche SW of Donaldsonville in LA, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location LA, United States
- Watershed lake maurepas
- Primary gauge 07380401 (USGS)
About Bayou Lafourche SW of Donaldsonville
Bayou Lafourche sits in the Lake Maurepas watershed in Louisiana.
What the record shows
The record at this station runs back more than 30 years. The highest level in that record was 11.04 ft (3.37 m) in June 2001, and the lowest was 4.04 ft (1.23 m) in March 1997. That span is the range people should keep in mind when they are checking docks, pumps, or shallow access.
The seasonal pattern is narrow. The typical high month is June at 7.67 ft (2.34 m), while the typical low month is October at 7.55 ft (2.3 m). The typical annual swing is 1.5 in (3.8 cm). For anyone using the water day to day, that tells you the station usually stays close to its seasonal median, with only a small shift through the year.
In Gulf lowland waters, high water can linger for days when rainfall stacks up and drainage is slow. That is the main rhythm to watch here: a rise can matter more than the absolute level if you need access, clearance, or flood watch time.
The watershed
This is a USGS station on a river reach, so the record reflects the water at this point on Bayou Lafourche, not the whole basin on a map. That matters for local users. A gauge can respond to rain and backwater in ways that are different from nearby reaches, so the numbers here are best read as conditions at the station itself.
For cottagers, anglers, and landowners, the useful question is usually not whether the bayou is “high” in the abstract, but whether it is higher or lower than it normally is for this date. That is the kind of comparison this page is built to give.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is today’s reading set against the median for this calendar day across the station’s record. That comparison is more useful than raw elevation because it tells you whether the bayou is running above or below its usual seasonal place.
USGS provides the station record, and with about 30 years on record, the day-of-year median gives a steadier reference than a single height by itself.
How this page is built
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.
How Nibi Metrics works · Water stories
Nibi Metrics - live water levels, flow, and forecasts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK
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.
What you can see for any monitored lake or river
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.
Alerts that watch the water for you
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.
Where Nibi comes from
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.
Coverage
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.
Free forever, funded by members
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.
Water Stories
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The science of snow water equivalent and why it drives the season ahead.
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Why Central and South Texas rivers go from gravel beds to fifty-year records in an afternoon - including July 2026 on the Nueces.
One percent, every year, forever - unwrapping hydrology's most misunderstood phrase, and how it differs from our own percentiles.
How every number is computed - About the platform
