WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for La Salle River above Sanford Dam in MB, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
The La Salle River in the La Salle watershed in Manitoba is gauged above Sanford Dam.
This station drains 1783 km2 (688 sq mi) upstream of the gauge, so the reading reflects what is happening in the river above this point rather than the whole watershed. With 36 years on record, the station gives a useful local picture for people watching spring runoff, dock levels, or field access.
For this part of Manitoba, the seasonal pattern matters most in spring. The river’s highest typical month is April at 233.02 m (764.49 ft), and its lowest typical month is January at 232.8 m (763.78 ft). That typical annual swing is 21.8 cm (8.6 in), which is modest in a day-to-day sense but still enough to change how edges, intakes, and shallow crossings behave over the season.
The record high is 235.99 m (774.24 ft) in April 1997. The record low is 231.43 m (759.29 ft) in October 1988. Those two marks show the range this reach has actually seen at the gauge, and they frame what a wet spring and a dry late-season period can look like here.
The monthly pattern is straightforward: April is usually the highest month, and January the lowest. That means the river is typically carrying its strongest water levels as snowmelt begins, then easing back through the rest of the year. For cottages, that is the season to watch shoreline access. For farmers, it is the time when low spots and outlet works are most likely to need attention. For anglers, it can change where the river holds depth and current.
The hero number on this page should be read against the median for this calendar day, not as a standalone height. That matters because the same level can mean different things in April and January, and the daily median gives that context directly.
This station is operated by Water Survey of Canada. With 36 years on record, the comparison is grounded in a long local history, not just today’s snapshot.
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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