WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
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Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Pecos River below Taiban Creek near Fort Sumner,nm in NM, United States, built from official government gauge data.
The Pecos River below Taiban Creek near Fort Sumner sits in the Upper Pecos watershed in New Mexico.
The station drains 5,908 sq mi (15,302 km2) upstream of this gauge. That is the area feeding the reading here, not the whole Upper Pecos.
For people using the river, the main point is that the station has a long enough record to show repeatable swings. In this part of the Southwest, summer storms can change conditions quickly, while long dry stretches can leave the river lower for extended periods between events.
The highest level in the record is 6.96 ft (2.12 m) in August 2022. The lowest level in the record is 1.42 ft (0.43 m) in March 2018. That is a wide range for docks, pumps, and low-water crossings.
The usual seasonal pattern is narrower than the record extremes but still noticeable. The typical high month is August at 2.49 ft (0.76 m), while the typical low month is February at 1.88 ft (0.57 m). The typical annual swing is 7.3 in (18.6 cm).
For someone fishing or watching the river at a pump intake, that seasonal swing is the part to watch most closely from month to month. It tells you the level changes this gauge usually sees even when the river is not near a record.
The number shown on the page is most useful when compared with the median for this calendar day across the station record, not as a raw height by itself. A river stage on one date means more when you can place it against what is normal for that same day.
This station is operated by the USGS, and it has more than 34 years on record. That record length is what gives the daily median its value: it turns one reading into a local comparison that shows whether the river is running below, near, or above its usual level for this date.
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 in a growing number of countries. Built on official government data.
Nibi Metrics tracks more than 17,900 gauged lakes and rivers in a growing number of countries, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, the Environment Agency for England, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Natural Resources Wales, the Office of Public Works in Ireland (waterlevel.ie), the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), the State of Queensland's water monitoring network, and on the Great Lakes the Canadian Hydrographic Service and NOAA. 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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