WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Black Bayou at Rodessa in LA, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Black Bayou at Rodessa is a gauged river in the Cross Bayou watershed in Louisiana.
The station has more than 25 years on record, enough to show a range that matters for banks, docks, and intakes. The record high is 18.35 ft (5.59 m), set in March 2016. The record low is 8.07 ft (2.46 m), set in November 2012.
Seasonally, the highest typical month is March at 11.92 ft (3.63 m), while the lowest typical month is September at 10.81 ft (3.3 m). That typical annual swing is 13.3 in (33.7 cm). For someone living or fishing here, that is enough to notice in water depth, but not so large that the river resets itself from month to month.
This station drains 177 sq mi (458 km2) above the gauge. In Gulf lowland hydrology, that means water can stay up for days after a rain, and backwater or surge can hold levels high longer than a short storm would suggest. The monthly pattern here leans higher in March and lower in September, so spring tends to ask more of access points, while late summer is usually the lower side of the year.
The hero number on this page is most useful when set against the median for the same calendar day, not against the raw elevation alone. A single stage reading can look high or low by itself; the day-of-year median shows whether today is ordinary for this station or outside its usual range for now. That matters for deciding whether a change is seasonal background or a real move in water level.
This station is operated by the U.S. Geological Survey.
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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