Water Stories

Field notes, explainers, and data guides from the Nibi Metrics desk.

The flood of record that was overtaken

For five years, spring 2019 was the mark every Lake Muskoka decision answered to. In April 2026 the lake went two centimeters higher - and the official books have not caught up yet.

Why the Assiniboine floods every spring

Inside the freshet cycle that puts Manitoba shorelines at risk each year - and why 2026 broke the script.

How snowpack becomes summer water

The science of snow water equivalent and why it drives the season ahead.

Reading a staff gauge like a hydrologist

What the numbers on the measuring stick actually tell you.

Flash Flood Alley: how Texas rivers rise in hours

Why Central and South Texas rivers go from gravel beds to fifty-year records in an afternoon - including July 2026 on the Nueces.

What a "100-year flood" actually means

One percent, every year, forever - unwrapping hydrology's most misunderstood phrase, and how it differs from our own percentiles.