WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
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Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Stawamus River at Highway No. 99 in Canada, BC, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
Stawamus River at Highway No. 99 sits in the Strait of Georgia - Squamish watershed in British Columbia.
The station has 34 years on record, and the range is straightforward: the record high is 2.8 m (9.18 ft) in February 2015, and the record low is 1.38 m (4.53 ft) in September 2014. For someone watching a crossing, bank, or pump intake, that is the upper and lower edge of what this gauge has seen.
The seasonal pattern is smaller than the extremes but still worth planning for. The typical high month is May at 1.82 m (5.97 ft), and the typical low month is August at 1.49 m (4.89 ft). The typical annual swing is 33.1 cm (13 in), so there is a modest but regular change between late spring and late summer.
Short-term changes can be quick here. The fastest 24-hour rise was 78.9 cm (31.1 in) in November 2017. The fastest 24-hour drop was 69.9 cm (27.5 in) in November 2021. That kind of movement matters more than the monthly average if you are deciding when to move gear, check access, or watch for a changing channel.
This gauge drains 52.2 km2 (20.2 sq mi) above the station. That is the area feeding this site, not the full watershed name shown on the page.
The regional pattern here is mountain hydrology: freshet driven by snowpack and often peaking May-July; glacier-fed systems stay high through summer; coastal systems flash with fall/winter rain. On a river like this, that means the month-to-month shape can shift from a spring high toward a late-summer low, with sharper jumps when conditions turn.
The hero number on this page is most useful when it is compared with the median for this calendar day, not just read as a raw elevation. A single water level by itself does not tell you whether the river is running high for the season or near its usual mark.
At Water Survey of Canada stations, that daily comparison is the right reference because it puts today beside the long station record. With 34 years on record, it gives a better read on whether this gauge is running above or below its normal seasonal position for this date.
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 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.
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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