WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Sf Republican R near CO-KS ST Line in KS, United States, built from official government gauge data.
The South Fork Republican River near the Colorado-Kansas state line sits in the South Fork Republican watershed in Kansas.
This station has 24 years on record, so the range here is built from a fair amount of local history.
The record high is 8.68 ft (2.65 m), set in August 2008. The record low is 2.25 ft (0.69 m), set in August 2006. That spread matters for docks, pumps, and bank access: this reach can sit near its lower end in late summer, but it has also climbed to levels well above that in the record.
The seasonal pattern is fairly tight. The typical high month is March at 3.71 ft (1.13 m), and the typical low month is September at 2.93 ft (0.89 m). The typical annual swing is 9.4 in (23.8 cm). For anyone drawing water or fishing this reach, that means the river usually changes more by season than by dramatic day-to-day shifts in a normal year.
The gauge drains 1,860 sq mi (4,817 km2) upstream of the station. That is the area sending water past this point, not the full watershed mapped on a broad regional scale.
The regional rhythm here is the plains pattern: spring and summer convective storms can push sharp rises, then the river often settles into long dry recessions. On flat ground, high water can take time to move out. In practice, that means a storm upstream may matter here even if local weather looks quiet.
The hero number on this page should be read against the median for the same calendar day across the station record, not as a raw elevation by itself. A stage that is normal for this date can matter very differently from the same stage in another season.
That date-by-date comparison is the better tool because it places today’s reading in local context: above median, below median, or near the middle of the record for this day. The source is the U.S. Geological Survey, and this station gives you more than 24 years of comparison to work from.
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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