San Juan River at Shiprock Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for San Juan River at Shiprock in NM, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location NM, United States
- Watershed middle san juan
- Primary gauge 09368000 (USGS)
About San Juan River at Shiprock
What the record shows
The San Juan River at Shiprock sits in the Middle San Juan watershed in New Mexico.
This station has more than 50 years of record, and the range is wide enough to matter at a dock, a diversion, or a bank access point. The record high is 14.69 ft (4.48 m) in June 2019, and the record low is 6.79 ft (2.07 m) in July 2022. Those two marks bracket what this reach has already done at this gauge.
The seasonal pattern is narrower than the full record but still worth tracking. The typical high month is June at 8.77 ft (2.67 m), and the typical low month is February at 7.48 ft (2.28 m). The typical annual swing is 15.5 in (39.4 cm). For anyone using the river regularly, that is enough change to shift shallow access, change the edge of usable water, and alter how far a boat or intake sits from the surface.
No fastest 24-hour rise is listed here, so there is no verified warning-rate number to read for this station.
The watershed
The gauge drains 12,900 sq mi (33,411 km2) upstream of this point. That is the area contributing to what this station measures, not the full watershed mapped in the landscape.
In this part of the Southwest, the seasonal rhythm is familiar: snowmelt in the high country tends to support spring flows on the major rivers, while July through September can bring short, sharp flood events from monsoon storms. Between those events, long dry stretches are common. That pattern matters here because the river can move from one operating condition to another without much in-between.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is the station’s current reading set against the median for this calendar day across the record. That is more useful than a raw elevation because it tells you whether the river is running above or below its usual date-specific level.
This station is operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, and the comparison is grounded in a record of more than 50 years. For someone watching for access, bank storage, or changing river edge conditions, the date-matched median gives better context than a single height by itself.
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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