WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Salinas R near Bradley CA in CA, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Salinas River near Bradley sits in the Salinas watershed, California.
This station watches water from a catchment above the gauge of 2535 sq mi (6566 km2). For people downstream, that upstream area is the part that matters at this point on the river: it sets the amount of water and runoff that can reach the gauge.
The record high is 18.31 ft (5.58 m), set in January 2023. The record low is 2.19 ft (0.67 m), set in September 2022. That spread shows how much the river can change from one season to another, and it is the range a crossing, intake, or bank edge has to be ready for.
The usual seasonal pattern is modest by comparison. August is the highest typical month at 4.39 ft (1.34 m), while November is the lowest typical month at 2.97 ft (0.9 m). The typical annual swing is 17 in (43.3 cm). For a river user, that means late-summer water is often higher than the fall base, but the day-to-day range still stays far below the extremes in the record.
This station has 50 years on record, so those patterns come from a long enough archive to show what is normal here and what is not.
The hero number on this page is today’s reading compared with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation because a level only means something when you know what is typical for the same date.
At this USGS station, the comparison is built from more than 50 years of record. If today sits above the median, the river is running higher than is usual for this date; if it sits below, it is lower than the middle of the long-term daily set. That is the number to watch for a quick read on current 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 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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