WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Bayou Macon near Kilbourne in LA, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Bayou Macon near Kilbourne is a river in the Bayou Macon watershed in Louisiana.
The gauge drains 504 sq mi (1,305 km2) upstream of this station, so it reflects what is happening across a fairly large reach of the basin rather than just one nearby bank or field. For people living, farming, or fishing nearby, that upstream area is what sets the pace of the water here.
The record high at this station is 28.93 ft (8.82 m), set in March 2016. The record low is 0.65 ft (0.2 m), set in October 1985. That is a wide spread for a single gauge, and it tells you the bayou can sit very low for some stretches and then reach levels far above its lowest mark.
Seasonally, the highest typical month is April at 7.5 ft (2.29 m), and the lowest typical month is October at 3.79 ft (1.16 m). The typical annual swing is 3.7 ft (1.13 m). For a dock, pump intake, or a shallow crossing, that is the range to plan around: spring water is usually higher, and fall water is usually lower.
The regional pattern here is slow drainage with backwater and rainfall flooding, and that means high water can linger for days after a wet spell or surge. Even without a fast-rise number in the record, that kind of setting rewards early attention when rain is building.
The hero number on this page is the current reading compared with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation because it tells you whether today is normal for this date, not just how high the water stands in feet.
This station is operated by the USGS, and it has about 50 years of record behind it. That long record is what makes the daily comparison meaningful: it places today in context for this stretch of Bayou Macon, not just against a fixed benchmark.
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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