Kemano River above Powerhouse Tailrace Water Level

Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Kemano River above Powerhouse Tailrace in BC, Canada, built from official government gauge data.

About Kemano River above Powerhouse Tailrace

Kemano River above Powerhouse Tailrace is in the Hecate Strait - Gardner Canal watershed in British Columbia.

What the record shows

The station has 54 years on record, so the daily pattern here is worth reading as a long habit, not a single season.

The record high is 3.36 m (11.04 ft), set in November 2024. The record low is 0.84 m (2.77 ft), set in February 2014. That spread matters for anyone using the reach near a bank, intake, or landing: water at this site has moved through a wide range on the same gauge.

Seasonally, the highest typical month is June at 2.06 m (6.74 ft), and the lowest typical month is March at 1.21 m (3.97 ft). The typical annual swing is 84.6 cm (33.3 in). For a dock or shore setup, that is the range to expect through the year, even before an unusual event pushes the level beyond the norm.

No fastest 24-hour rise is listed in the facts here, so there is no short-warning number to report.

The watershed

The station drains 556 km2 (215 sq mi) upstream of the gauge. That is the area feeding this reading, not the whole named watershed.

For local use, that upstream area is what matters when rain or snowmelt changes the river at this point. In mountain hydrology, freshet often builds from snowpack and usually peaks from May through July. A June seasonal high fits that broad pattern. The low month is March, which is a useful reminder that late-winter levels can be well below the June mark.

Reading the hero number

The hero number on the page is best read against the median for the same calendar day across the station record, not against the raw elevation alone. Raw level tells you where the water stands; the calendar-day median tells you whether today is ordinary for this date, high for the season, or low for the season.

With 54 years on record, that comparison gives a better sense of what dock height, shore access, and fishable water usually look like here. Water Survey of Canada is the operating agency for this station.

How this page is built

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.

How Nibi Metrics works · Water stories

Verify your email to receive alerts and history exports.
Favorites
Loading…
Notifications
No active alerts
Set an alert on any lake to get notified when levels change.
The Nibi Dispatch
Water moves. Stay ahead of it.
One email a week — freshet watches, record levels, new regions. Nothing else.
Map
Nibi MetricsNibi Metrics

Sign in

Alerts & notifications Get notified when your favorite lakes go outside normal range
Loading…
Your account Email, subscription, and account actions
Loading…
DEV ZONE

Nibi Metrics - live water levels, flow, and forecasts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK

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.

What you can see for any monitored lake or river

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.

Alerts that watch the water for you

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.

Where Nibi comes from

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.

Coverage

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.

Free forever, funded by members

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.

Water Stories

Field notes and explainers from the Nibi desk - how to read a staff gauge, what a 100-year flood actually means, how snowpack becomes summer water.

The flood of record that was overtaken

For five years, spring 2019 was the mark every Lake Muskoka decision answered to. In April 2026 the lake went two centimeters higher - and the official books have not caught up yet.

Why the Assiniboine floods every spring

Inside the freshet cycle that puts Manitoba shorelines at risk each year - and why 2026 broke the script.

How snowpack becomes summer water

The science of snow water equivalent and why it drives the season ahead.

Reading a staff gauge like a hydrologist

What the numbers on the measuring stick actually tell you.

Flash Flood Alley: how Texas rivers rise in hours

Why Central and South Texas rivers go from gravel beds to fifty-year records in an afternoon - including July 2026 on the Nueces.

What a "100-year flood" actually means

One percent, every year, forever - unwrapping hydrology's most misunderstood phrase, and how it differs from our own percentiles.

How every number is computed - About the platform