Quinsam River below Lower Quinsam Lake Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Quinsam River below Lower Quinsam Lake in Canada, BC, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
- Location Canada, BC, Canada
- Watershed east central vancouver island
- Primary gauge 08HD027 (Water Survey of Canada)
About Quinsam River below Lower Quinsam Lake
Quinsam River below Lower Quinsam Lake sits in the East Central Vancouver Island watershed in British Columbia.
The watershed
The gauge drains 221 km2 (85.3 sq mi) upstream of the station, so the reading reflects what reaches this point on the river, not the whole watershed beyond it.
For people using the river, the useful pattern is the range the water has shown over 28 years of record. The record high is 3.64 m (11.93 ft) in December 2014. The record low is 2.09 m (6.84 ft) in July 2015. That spread matters for banks, access points, and anything left near the waterline.
What the numbers say
The seasonal pattern is modest but steady. The highest typical month is January at 2.61 m (8.57 ft). The lowest typical month is August at 2.23 m (7.33 ft). The typical annual swing is 37.9 cm (14.9 in), which is the range a dock, pump intake, or low crossing has to tolerate in an ordinary year.
The fastest 24-hour change on record is a rise of 53.6 cm (21.1 in) in October 2021. The fastest 24-hour drop on record is 22.7 cm (8.9 in) in October 2021. Those are the kinds of moves that matter when you are watching for short notice changes at the river.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is best read against the median for this calendar day, not as a raw elevation by itself. A single level only tells you where the water sits right now; the day-of-year median shows whether this reading is high or low for the season at this station.
With more than 28 years on record, that comparison gives a cleaner local context for anglers, cottagers, and flood-watchers.
How this page is built
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.
How Nibi Metrics works · Water stories
Nibi Metrics - live water levels, flow, and forecasts for 17,900+ lakes and rivers
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.
What you can see for any monitored lake or river
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.
Alerts that watch the water for you
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.
Where Nibi comes from
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.
Coverage
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.
Free forever, funded by members
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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