WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Cedar C at 95TH ST near Desoto in KS, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Cedar C at 95TH ST near Desoto is a gauged river in the Lower Kansas watershed, Kansas.
This station drains 46.1 sq mi (119 km2) upstream of the gauge. With 13 years on record, it is a short but useful window on how this reach behaves in wet spells and dry stretches.
For people living nearby, the main thing to watch is how fast the level can move after storms and how slowly flat ground can give water back. That is the pattern to expect on plains watersheds: sharp rises can arrive with spring and summer convective storms, then the river can spend long periods easing down.
The record high is 87.26 ft (26.6 m), set in July 2025. The record low is 75.71 ft (23.08 m), set in July 2014. Those two marks show the range this gauge has already seen, even over a relatively short record.
The seasonal pattern is tight. May is the highest typical month at 76.98 ft (23.46 m), while July is the lowest typical month at 76.72 ft (23.38 m). The typical annual swing is 3.1 in (8 cm).
That is a small average swing, but it still matters at the bank. A few inches can change whether a low dock stays workable, whether a pump intake keeps a steady draw, and whether a shallow access point is easy or finicky to use. The fact that July is the lowest typical month also fits the summer slowdown you expect on the plains.
The hero number on this page is the current reading set against the median for this calendar day across the station’s record. That is a better guide than raw elevation because it tells you whether today is ordinary for this date, high for the season, or low for the season.
At this USGS station, that comparison is built from more than 13 years of records. For cottagers, anglers, and flood-watchers, it gives context that a single stage value cannot: the same number can mean very different things in May than it does in July.
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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