Santa Ynez R A Narrows near Lompoc CA Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Santa Ynez R A Narrows near Lompoc CA in CA, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location CA, United States
- Watershed santa ynez
- Primary gauge 11133000 (USGS)
About Santa Ynez R A Narrows near Lompoc CA
What the record shows
Santa Ynez R A Narrows near Lompoc CA is a USGS river station in the Santa Ynez watershed, California.
This gauge drains 789 sq mi (2044 km2) upstream of the Narrows. That is the area whose rain and runoff pass this point, so it is the right scale for reading what reaches the channel here.
The station has more than 50 years on record, which is enough history to compare today’s level with the same calendar day across many wet years and dry years. The facts provided here do not include a record high, record low, seasonal swing, or fastest rise, so I will not add numbers that are not in the record set.
The watershed
For this part of California, the seasonal pattern is usually simple: spring and early summer follow snowmelt in the mountains, winter storms bring the biggest floods, and long dry summers leave very low flows. That rhythm matters for anyone taking water from the river, crossing it, or watching for rapid changes after a storm.
Even without the station’s month-by-month statistics in hand, the watershed setting tells you what to expect from the river between storms and during flood season: a long low-flow period, then sharp moves when weather turns wet.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page should be read against the median for this calendar day, not against raw elevation or a single fixed benchmark. That comparison shows whether the river is running above or below its usual level for this date at this station.
For a USGS site with more than 50 years on record, that daily context is the useful part. It tells cottagers, anglers, and water users whether today is ordinary for the season, not just how high the sensor sits.
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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The science of snow water equivalent and why it drives the season ahead.
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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
