WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Blackfoot River below North Canal at Blackfoot ID in ID, United States, built from official government gauge data.
The Blackfoot River in the Blackfoot watershed of Idaho is measured at this USGS station below North Canal.
This reach sits in the Blackfoot watershed, and the station gives a local read on how the river is behaving for nearby users downstream of the canal.
For people watching irrigation schedules, fishing windows, or bank access, the record matters because this site can move across a wide range over the year. The highest level in the station record is 8.39 ft (2.56 m) in April 2017. The lowest is 1.66 ft (0.51 m) in September 2013. That span tells you the river can change enough to affect depth, current, and the amount of water sitting in the channel.
The seasonal pattern is not uniform. The highest typical month is October at 3.33 ft (1.01 m), while the lowest typical month is June at 2.56 ft (0.78 m). The typical annual swing is 9.2 in (23.4 cm). For a dock, intake, or launch, that is the range to plan around, not a single day’s reading.
The record here covers 16 years. That is enough to show a repeatable seasonal pattern, but not enough to treat any one year as typical on its own.
The highest and lowest recorded levels are separated by more than six feet, while the usual month-to-month change is much smaller. That means the river can look steady for stretches and still shift enough over a season to matter on the ground. The fact that the typical low month is June is worth keeping in mind for late-season water use and fishing access.
The hero number on this page is today’s reading, set against the median for this calendar day across the station record. That comparison is more useful than raw elevation because it shows whether the river is running above or below its usual level for this date.
This station is operated by the USGS, and its 16 years on record give enough history to judge today against local habit, not just against the gauge scale.
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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