WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Embarras River below Divergence in AB, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
The Embarras River below Divergence is in the Lower Athabasca - Mouth watershed in Alberta.
This station sits on a small upstream drainage area in the Lower Athabasca - Mouth watershed, so changes here show up quickly at the gauge and at nearby crossings, intakes, and banks. For people who watch this reach, that means the local level can change faster than a larger river would.
The regional pattern matters here: mountain snowmelt drives late-spring peaks, and summer convective storms can produce sharp rises. At this site, the seasonal high comes in June and the seasonal low comes in March. The typical swing between those two months is 1.31 m (4.3 ft), so docks and pumps need to handle a moderate but regular change through the year.
The record high is 12.24 m (40.14 ft) in May 2020. That is the kind of level that can leave very little margin at low banks and low crossings.
The record low is 0 m (0 ft) in June 2017. That tells shoreline users that this reach can also fall to a very low stage.
With 38 years on record, the seasonal signal is clearer than a single day’s reading. June is the usual high-water month at 8.56 m (28.1 ft), while March is usually the low-water month at 7.25 m (23.79 ft). For anglers, that spread matters for access and current speed. For cottagers and operators, it is the range to plan around when setting intakes, moorings, and crossings.
The hero number on this page is today’s reading set against the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation alone because it shows whether the river is running normal for the date, not just where it sits on the staff.
With more than 38 years on record, that comparison has context. It helps you judge whether today is ordinary, high for the season, or low for the date — the information that matters when you are deciding whether to launch, pump, or keep an eye on the bank.
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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