WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Pacolet River near Saratt in SC, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Pacolet River near Saratt in the Upper Broad watershed, South Carolina, is watched at a USGS station with 503 square miles (1,303 square kilometres) upstream of it.
The record high is 27.61 ft (8.41 m) in September 2024. The record low is 3.76 ft (1.15 m) in June 2026. That range matters on this river because the stage can move far enough to change how much water sits at a bank, a pump intake, or a low crossing.
The seasonal pattern is modest compared with those records. The highest typical month is March at 6.85 ft (2.09 m), and the lowest typical month is September at 5.13 ft (1.57 m). The typical annual swing is 20.6 in (52.3 cm). For people who live beside the river, that is the ordinary rise and fall to expect through the year; for anglers, it is the difference between a bank that stays reachable and one that shifts farther from the water.
This gauge drains the part of the Upper Broad basin above the station, not the whole named watershed. With 503 square miles (1,303 square kilometres) upstream, the river responds to weather across a fair-sized area before it reaches this point.
The regional rhythm here is rain-driven. Winter and spring rains usually set the higher water, while long warm-season low-water stretches are common. In this part of the country, tropical systems can also reset the record book in a short time. That is why late-summer and early-fall readings deserve attention even when the river has been quiet for weeks.
This page’s hero number is today’s reading compared with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation because the same stage can mean very different things in March and September.
Water Survey of Canada is not the operating agency here; this is a USGS station. The record spans more than 14 years, so today’s value is being judged against a local history that is long enough to show the river’s usual range, but short enough that each new high or low still matters.
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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