WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
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Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Taiya R near Skagway AK in AK, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Taiya River in the Chilkat-Skagway Rivers watershed, Alaska.
The record at this station spans more than 50 years.
The highest stage in the file is 28.33 ft (8.64 m), set in December 2008. The lowest is 10.9 ft (3.32 m), set in April 2026. That spread is what makes this gauge worth watching: the river can sit near its lower range for part of the year, then move far enough to change access, bank exposure, and the clearance under low crossings.
The seasonal pattern is clear. The typical high month is July at 15.1 ft (4.6 m), while the typical low month is March at 11.98 ft (3.65 m). The typical annual swing is 3.1 ft (94.8 cm). For someone keeping a dock, pump intake, or boat launch in mind, that is the size of the regular adjustment window. The fastest 24-hour rise is not available in the record here, so there is no basis for a warning-time number from this page.
The station drains 178 sq mi (461 km2) upstream of the gauge. That is the area feeding this reading, not the broader watershed name on the map.
For local use, that upstream area is the part that matters when rain, snowmelt, or glacier runoff reach the channel. In a river with a July high and a March low, the main practical point is timing: water levels are not fixed, and the range is large enough to matter for shallow draft access and shoreline work. The seasonal note for this region fits that pattern, but the station record is the source of the numbers that matter here.
The hero number on this page is best read as today’s stage compared with the median for this calendar day across the station record, not as a raw elevation by itself. A stage on its own tells you where the water surface sits; the calendar-day median tells you whether today is running higher or lower than normal for this date.
That matters because the same stage can mean something different in March than in July. Water Survey of Canada and USGS-style station records use this kind of comparison to put the current reading in context, and this station has more than 50 years on record. For a river user, that is the useful question: is the water near its usual level for today, or outside the band the river normally sits in?
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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