WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
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Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Qu'appelle River near Welby in Canada, SK, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
The Qu'appelle River in the Lower Qu'Appelle - Mouth watershed in Saskatchewan.
This station’s record shows a spring high and a late-summer low. The highest typical month is April at 2.73 m (8.96 ft), while the lowest typical month is September at 1.39 m (4.55 ft). That typical annual swing is 1.35 m (4.4 ft), so docks, pumps, and low intakes need room for a fair change through the open-water season.
For people on the river, that means spring is the time to watch water rise onto banks and access points, while late summer is the time to watch for shallow water and reduced working depth. The regional pattern here fits prairie hydrology: the big seasonal move is usually in spring, and summer tends toward recession.
The record high is 5.95 m (19.51 ft) in July 2014, and the record low is 0.91 m (3 ft) in August 2020. That spread matters because it shows the range this station has actually carried, not just the average season.
The fastest 24-hour rise on record was 1.15 m (3.8 ft) in April 2023. For anyone watching for flooding or bank overtopping, that is the kind of change that can remove much of the warning margin in a single day.
The fastest 24-hour drop was 49.2 cm (19.4 in) in April 2018. That kind of move can change conditions at a landing, crossing, or intake almost as quickly as a rise can.
The hero number on this page is most useful when it is compared with the median for the same calendar day across the station’s record. That is better than raw elevation because it tells you whether today is ordinary for this date or shifted high or low for the season.
This station has 110 years on record, so the daily median is anchored in a long local history. For a river user, that context is what turns a single reading into a practical check on conditions.
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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