WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Hayes River below Gods River in MB, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
The Hayes River below Gods River is in the Lower Hayes watershed in Manitoba.
The station drains 102900 km2 (39730 sq mi) upstream of the gauge. That is the area feeding this reading, not the whole watershed on a map.
For people using this reach, the useful part of the record is how far the water moves through a year. The typical high is in December at 22.04 m (72.3 ft), and the typical low is in August at 20.45 m (67.11 ft). The usual swing is 1.58 m (5.2 ft), so docks, intakes, and shore access need to work across that range.
The record high is 27.37 m (89.79 ft) in April 2007. The record low is 19.44 m (63.78 ft) in August 2025. Those two marks bracket what this river has done at this station over more than 53 years of record.
The seasonal pattern here does not follow the usual prairie snowmelt peak. The highest typical month is December, and the lowest typical month is August. That is the shape the record shows, and it matters more than any general rule for the region.
For anglers, that means the water you launch into in late summer is usually near the low end of the station’s annual range, while winter and early winter sit closer to the high side of the normal cycle. For cottagers and anyone with a water intake, the annual swing is modest on paper but still enough to change shoreline access and intake depth.
There is no fast 24-hour rise or drop value provided here, so I will not guess at the warning time this river gives during a surge.
The hero number on this page should be read as today’s level against the median for this calendar day, not as raw elevation by itself. That comparison tells you whether the river is running high or low for the date, which is the part that matters for access, fish habitat, and local flood watch.
This station has more than 53 years on record. The operating agency for this gauge is Water Survey of Canada.
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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