WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Ribstone Creek near Edgerton in AB, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
Ribstone Creek near Edgerton is a gauged river in the Ribstone watershed, Alberta.
This creek follows a prairie pattern that still reflects snowmelt upstream: levels usually build into summer, with the highest typical month in July at 2.79 m (9.16 ft), then ease to the lowest typical month in November at 2.4 m (7.88 ft). The typical annual swing is 38.9 cm (15.3 in), which is modest on paper but enough to matter for a low dock, a pump intake, or a crossing that sits close to the water.
For people watching the gauge, the main seasonal question is not whether the level changes, but how much room the bank or channel leaves when summer storms arrive. The July high tells you the water can still sit above its autumn level during the warm season.
The record high is 3.08 m (10.11 ft), reached in May 2017. The record low is 1.9 m (6.24 ft), reached in October 2021. That spread shows how far this reach can move over time, even if the usual year is tighter.
The fastest 24-hour rise on record is 34.3 cm (13.5 in) in May 2021. The fastest 24-hour drop is 27.4 cm (10.8 in), also in May 2021. For anyone managing a shoreline, those are the numbers that matter most for short notice: a day can be enough to change whether a bank is workable, whether a shallow launch stays usable, or whether a crossing starts to look risky.
The station has 100 years on record, so these are not one-off quirks. They are part of the range this creek has shown over a long run.
The hero number on this page should be read against the median for this calendar day across the station’s record, not as a raw level on its own. That makes the reading more useful for day-to-day decisions, because 2.4 m (7.88 ft) means something different in November than it does in July.
With 100 years on record, the station gives a long view of where today sits relative to normal for this date. That is the better comparison for cottagers, anglers, and anyone checking a bank or intake: it tells you whether the creek is running near its usual position for the day, or sitting well above or below it.
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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