WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Carrot Creek near the Mouth in AB, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
Carrot Creek near the Mouth sits in the Sturgeon (Alta.) watershed in Alberta.
The seasonal pattern is modest but real. The typical level is highest in April at 7.91 m (25.95 ft) and lowest in September at 7.64 m (25.07 ft), with a typical annual swing of 26.8 cm (10.6 in). For people using the creek, that is the range to think about for low crossings, pump intakes, and bank access through the open-water season.
In foothills and prairie hydrology, spring peaks are common, and summer storms can still bring sharp rises. On this creek, that means conditions can change quickly even when the month-to-month pattern looks small on paper.
The record high is 8.91 m (29.25 ft), reached in April 2020. The record low is 6.88 m (22.56 ft), reached in March 2022. Those two marks show the spread this station has seen over 20 years of record.
The fastest 24-hour rise was 59.4 cm (23.4 in) in July 2012. That is the kind of jump that matters most for anyone fishing shorelines or watching a low ford, because it tells you how little warning the creek can give during a storm.
The fastest 24-hour drop was 51.2 cm (20.2 in) in April 2020. Rapid falling water can leave shallows exposed and change access just as quickly as a rise.
The number at the top of the page is most useful when you compare today’s reading with the median for this calendar day across the station record. Raw elevation by itself tells you where the water sits right now, but the median shows whether it is running high or low for this date.
That comparison is the better guide for local decisions because it puts today in context. On a station with more than 20 years of record, the median is the baseline that helps separate a normal day from an unusual one.
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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