WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Navarro R near Navarro CA in CA, United States, built from official government gauge data.
The Navarro River in the Big-Navarro-Garcia watershed, California, is monitored by USGS near Navarro.
The station drains 303 sq mi (785 km2) upstream of the gauge, so the numbers here describe what reaches this point, not the whole watershed. For people living along the river, that upstream area is the part that decides how quickly levels can build after a wet spell and how much water is available later on.
With 50 years on record, this station has a long enough history to show the river’s seasonal range clearly. The record high is 30.92 ft (9.42 m) in February 2019. The record low is 0.98 ft (0.3 m) in September 2018. That spread matters for docks, pumps, and low-water crossings: the river has been much higher than its usual seasonal range, and it has also dropped to a very low late-summer level.
The typical high point is in March at 4.61 ft (1.41 m), and the typical low point is in September at 1.5 ft (0.46 m). The typical annual swing is 3.1 ft (94.8 cm). That is a modest seasonal range on paper, but it still changes the shape of the river for anglers and anyone drawing water: March tends to offer the most depth, while September is the tightest time for clearances and intake depth.
That seasonal pattern fits the broader regional rhythm. Winter storms can bring the largest floods, while long dry summers pull flows down.
USGS shows today’s reading against the median for this calendar day, using more than 50 years of record at this station. That is more useful than raw elevation because the same stage can mean different things in March than in September. A level that sits near the median for today may be ordinary for the season even if the number looks high or low on its own.
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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