WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Company Canal at Salt Barrier near Lockport in LA, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Company Canal at Salt Barrier near Lockport is a gauged river in the West Central Louisiana Coastal watershed, Louisiana.
The month-to-month range here is modest by Gulf lowland standards, but it still matters for docks, pumps, and bank access. The typical high point comes in May at 2.44 ft (0.74 m), while January sits lower at 1.62 ft (0.49 m). That 9.8 in (25 cm) annual swing is enough to change whether a landing stays convenient or starts to feel tight.
In this part of Louisiana, slow drainage can keep water elevated after rainfall and during hurricane season. For a shoreline or intake, that means levels can stay up long enough to matter after the weather has moved on.
The station has more than 23 years on record, so its extremes are not just one-off readings. The high mark reached 4.89 ft (1.49 m) in September 2008, which shows this canal can climb well above its May typical level. The low mark fell to 0.2 ft (0.06 m) in February 2026, a reminder that shallow periods can also arrive here.
For anyone fishing or working from the bank, those two records frame the reach this gauge has shown: from very low water that can limit access, to a high stage that changes how the canal behaves along the barrier.
Today’s reading is best read against the median for this calendar day across the station’s own record, not against an absolute elevation. That comparison answers a practical question: is the canal running high or low for this date, compared with how it usually behaves here?
At this USGS station, the day-of-year median is the yardstick that matters because it filters out the normal seasonal cycle. A single height by itself can look ordinary or unusual; the median for the same calendar day tells you which.
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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