Little Calumet River at South Holland Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Little Calumet River at South Holland in IL, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location IL, United States
- Watershed chicago
- Primary gauge 05536290 (USGS)
About Little Calumet River at South Holland
The Little Calumet River at South Holland sits in the Chicago watershed in Illinois.
Season by season
This gauge usually runs highest in March at 6.49 ft (1.98 m) and lowest in September at 5.28 ft (1.61 m). That is a typical annual swing of 14.5 in (36.9 cm), which is the range a dock, bank, or intake has to live with from one part of the year to the next.
In this part of the Midwest, winter and spring are the seasons that most often bring the higher water, with summer recessions after that. On a flat landscape, water can stay elevated for a while once it rises, so the change on the gauge matters as much as the peak itself.
For people along the river, March is the month to watch if you are checking access, bank clearance, or a low crossing. September is the month that usually gives the lower end of the yearly range.
Records and rises
The record high on this station is 19.58 ft (5.97 m), set in September 2008. The record low is 4.84 ft (1.48 m), set in September 1999.
Those two marks show the spread this river can cover at South Holland. The high-water record is the number that matters when you are thinking about shoreline stress, overbank water, or whether the usual channel room is enough. The low-water record is the number to keep in mind for shallow drafts, intake depth, and reachability.
The station’s catchment above the gauge is 208 sq mi (539 km2), so the reading here reflects the area upstream of this point, not the whole Chicago watershed.
Reading the hero number
This page’s hero number is best read as today’s level compared with the median for this calendar day, not as a raw height by itself. A single elevation can look ordinary or unusual depending on the date, but the day-by-day median shows whether the river is running above, below, or near its usual position for this time of year.
The station is operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, and it has about 50 years on record. That record length is what gives the daily comparison its value: it puts the present reading in context that local users can rely on.
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
