WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Clinton River at Moravian Drive at MT. Clemens in MI, United States, built from official government gauge data.
The Clinton River at Moravian Drive in the Clinton watershed, Michigan, drains 734 sq mi (1901 km2) upstream of this USGS station.
Fifty years of record give this reach a clear seasonal shape. The typical high point comes in April at 6.52 ft (1.99 m), while the typical low point is in November at 5.41 ft (1.65 m). That annual swing is 13.3 in (33.9 cm), which is modest for a river of this size and matters most for docks, bank access, and any intake set close to the waterline.
The record high is 16.11 ft (4.91 m), set in August 2014. The record low is 3.5 ft (1.07 m), set in October 2012. Those two marks show the range this gauge has seen: high water can push well beyond the usual spring rise, while low water can leave much less depth than the seasonal average.
For people living or fishing here, the practical point is simple: the river’s usual year is not the same as its extremes. The average month-to-month change is small enough to watch, but not small enough to ignore when the water stays up or falls away from the typical pattern.
The hero number on this page is most useful when you compare today’s reading with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That tells you whether the river is high or low for this date, not just what elevation it sits at right now.
Raw elevation alone can be misleading because the same level can mean different things in different parts of the year. A day-specific median, from more than 50 years of USGS record, gives a better read on how unusual the water is for this time of year.
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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