WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Pony Creek near Chard in AB, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
Pony Creek near Chard is a river in the Christina watershed of Alberta.
The seasonal pattern is modest but real: the typical level is highest in April at 8.9 m (29.19 ft) and lowest in March at 8.51 m (27.93 ft). That typical annual swing is 38.4 cm (15.1 in), so the water surface usually shifts by less than half a metre through the year.
For anyone with a dock, pump, or fish habitat near the channel, that means the creek is not a place for big seasonal water-level changes, but the timing still matters. April is the month to watch for the higher side of the usual range, while March sits on the lower side of that range.
The station drains 250 km2 (96.7 sq mi) upstream of the gauge, so this is the area feeding the reading at this location, not the whole watershed.
The record high is 10.76 m (35.31 ft) in June 2013, and the record low is 8.32 m (27.31 ft) in August 2021. That spread shows the range this creek can cover when conditions line up differently from the usual seasonal cycle.
There is no fastest 24-hour rise in the facts provided, so I cannot say how quickly the water can jump in a day from this record. For planning, that missing number matters: a fast rise is the warning time a creek gives before banks, crossings, or low intakes are affected.
The broader regional note fits the pattern here only in seasonal terms: in foothills and prairie settings, snowmelt often supports late-spring highs, while summer storms can bring sharp rises. On this page, the record and monthly values show the creek’s measured behaviour; they do not explain why it happened.
The hero number on this page is best read as today’s level against the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation alone because it shows whether the creek is running above or below its own normal for this date.
This station has more than 43 years on record, so the comparison reflects a long local history rather than a single season. The agency for this site is Water Survey of Canada.
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.
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