Salt Creek at Higgins Road near Elk Grove Village Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Salt Creek at Higgins Road near Elk Grove Village in IL, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location IL, United States
- Watershed des plaines
- Primary gauge 05531015 (USGS)
About Salt Creek at Higgins Road near Elk Grove Village
Salt Creek at Higgins Road near Elk Grove Village is a gauged river in the Des Plaines watershed, Illinois.
The watershed
This station drains 35.4 sq mi (91.7 km2) upstream of the gauge. On a flat basin like this, winter and spring rain and melt can hold water up for a while, so the creek can stay high after a wet spell. For anyone watching a low crossing, a bank, or a yard drain, the size of the upstream area matters because it sets how much water can reach this point at once.
What the numbers say
The record high is 10.36 ft (3.16 m), set in September 2008. The record low is 4.71 ft (1.44 m), set in August 2020. That spread is part of the story here: the creek has moved through very different levels in the station record, so a dock, intake, or access point needs room for change.
Seasonally, the highest typical month is May at 5.92 ft (1.8 m), and the lowest typical month is February at 5.73 ft (1.75 m). The typical annual swing is 2.2 in (5.7 cm), which says the day-to-day seasonal range is usually modest even though the extremes are much wider. The record covers 20 years, so these numbers give a useful local baseline for the reach.
Reading the hero number
This page’s hero number is today’s reading set against the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is a better check than raw elevation because a level that looks ordinary in one month can be high or low for this time of year.
The station is operated by the USGS. With 20 years on record, the day-of-year median gives a practical way to judge whether Salt Creek is tracking near its usual pattern or sitting above or below it for this date.
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 lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK
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.
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.
Water Stories
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Why Central and South Texas rivers go from gravel beds to fifty-year records in an afternoon - including July 2026 on the Nueces.
One percent, every year, forever - unwrapping hydrology's most misunderstood phrase, and how it differs from our own percentiles.
How every number is computed - About the platform
