WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Umatilla R at W Reservation Bndy near Pendleton in OR, United States, built from official government gauge data.
The Umatilla River at the western reservation boundary near Pendleton sits in the Umatilla watershed, Oregon.
This station has more than 31 years of record from the USGS, so the long view matters here.
The highest stage in the file is 10.58 ft (3.23 m) in January 2011. The lowest is 2.35 ft (0.72 m) in August 2014. That is a spread worth keeping in mind for docks, pumps, and any fixed intake set near the waterline.
The seasonal pattern is clear. The typical high point comes in April at 5.25 ft (1.6 m), while the typical low point comes in August at 2.87 ft (0.88 m). The typical annual swing is 28.5 in (72.5 cm). For people using this water, that means spring stage can sit well above late-summer stage, and any setup that works in April may be too shallow by August.
No fastest 24-hour rise is listed in the record shown here, so there is nothing to add on warning time from that metric.
The station drains 441 sq mi (1142 km2) upstream of this gauge, not the whole Umatilla watershed. That drainage area is the land feeding this point on the river.
In this part of Oregon, the regional rhythm is usually a wet winter and lower summer water. The record here fits that pattern in broad terms: the low month is August, and the high month is April. For local users, that means the reach is more likely to ask for room in spring and more likely to reward shallow-water caution in late summer.
The hero number on this page is the current stage compared with the median for this calendar day across the station’s record. That is more useful than raw elevation because a stage only tells you so much on its own; the calendar-day median tells you whether today is ordinary for this date, high for the season, or low for the season.
This station is read by the USGS. With more than 31 years on record, the day-to-day comparison is the better guide for anyone watching bank access, fishable depth, or whether a setup is running close to the usual range for this time of year.
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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