Kootenai River at Leonia Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Kootenai River at Leonia in ID, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location ID, United States
- Watershed lower kootenai
- Primary gauge 12305000 (USGS)
About Kootenai River at Leonia
The Kootenai River at Leonia sits in the Lower Kootenai watershed in Idaho.
The watershed
The station drains 11,740 square miles (30,407 km2) upstream of Leonia. That is the area feeding this gauge, not the full watershed on a map.
For people using the river near the station, the seasonal pattern matters most: the typical high point is in May at 18.02 ft (5.49 m), and the typical low point is in October at 10.81 ft (3.3 m). The typical annual swing is 7.2 ft (2.2 m), so docks, intakes, and bank access need room for a fairly wide range through the year.
The record high is 25.77 ft (7.86 m) in June 2006. The record low is 10.18 ft (3.1 m) in February 1994. Those two numbers frame the spread this reach has seen in the record.
What the numbers say
This is a mountain-snowmelt river with a late-spring rise in the long-term pattern, and the seasonal low comes in autumn. That means the river usually asks most of its water-management questions in the warmer half of the year, while late summer and autumn are the stretch to watch for lower water.
The record does not stop at the seasonal average. June 2006 reached the highest level in the archive, while February 1994 held the lowest. A river with that kind of range can move from useful depth to restricted access quickly enough to matter for launching, pumping, and shore use.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is best read as today’s level compared with the median for this calendar day across the station record, not as a raw elevation by itself. That comparison tells you whether the river is running high or low for this date, which is more useful for day-to-day decisions on the water.
This station has 50 years on record and is operated by the USGS.
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
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
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How every number is computed - About the platform
