WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Sand River near the Mouth in AB, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
Sand River near the Mouth sits in the Sand watershed in Alberta.
This station has more than 57 years on record, and the range is wide enough to matter for banks, crossings, and intakes.
The record high is 3.49 m (11.46 ft), set in June 2020. The record low is 0.67 m (2.19 ft), set in October 2022. That gap tells you the river can move through a large part of its range over the years, even before you get to short-term swings.
Seasonally, the highest typical month is June at 1.52 m (4.99 ft), and the lowest typical month is October at 0.91 m (2.98 ft). The typical annual swing is 61.5 cm (24.2 in). For anyone watching a dock, pump, or crossing, that is the everyday range to plan around: June is usually the high-water month, and October is usually the low-water month.
The regional pattern fits the foothills and prairie setting: late-spring peaks are the norm, and summer storms can still push the river up quickly. The record at this site shows both the seasonal lift and the lower autumn water that can leave more channel exposed.
The station drains 4910 km2 (1896 sq mi) upstream of the gauge. That is the area feeding this location, not the full watershed in a broader map sense.
For a river with that much upstream area, conditions from the upper basin can show up here after a delay, while local rain can still produce a sharp change. If you use the river for access or pumping, the gauge is worth watching when weather turns active.
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 alone because it puts the river beside its own history for the same day of the year.
A reading can look ordinary in metres and still be high for the season, or look low and still be normal for the date. The calendar-day median shows that context directly.
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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