WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Beaulieu River near Great Slave Lake in NT, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
Beaulieu River near Great Slave Lake is a gauged river in the Great Slave Lake - East Arm North Shore watershed, Northwest Territories.
The station drains 6361 km2 (2456 sq mi) upstream of the gauge. In this part of the Northwest Territories, the seasonal pattern matters more than any single day: long winter low flows set in under ice, then spring breakup and snowmelt push water higher, with short intense summer conditions layered on top.
For people living or fishing on the river, that means the reach can change fast over the course of a season, but the larger shift is usually gradual enough to watch in the gauge record. The monthly pattern gives the clearest signal of when water is most likely to be high or low.
The record high is 3.44 m (11.29 ft), set in July 2021. The record low is 2.62 m (8.59 ft), set in January 2024.
The typical high-water month is July at 3.03 m (9.93 ft), while the typical low-water month is April at 2.81 m (9.21 ft). That makes the typical annual swing 21.8 cm (8.6 in), which is modest in absolute terms but still enough to matter for dock height, shallow access, and near-bank fishing spots.
This station has 15 years on record, so the pattern is based on a relatively short archive. Even so, the contrast between July and April is clear.
The hero number on this page is the current reading, and it is most useful when you compare it with the median for the same calendar day across the station record. That comparison tells you whether today is ordinary for this date, high for the season, or sitting below the usual range.
Raw elevation alone does not do that. A level by itself says where the water sits right now, but the day-median puts it in context for this station and this time of year. With more than 15 years on record, that context is the better guide for anyone checking access, fishing conditions, or local water levels.
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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