WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Back Burn (Borders) at Ladyflat Farm in Scotland, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
Back Burn (Borders) at Ladyflat Farm is a gauged river in Scotland.
The station drains 4 km2 (1.5 sq mi) upstream of the gauge, so water levels here can shift quickly with local rain. That is the part of the river that matters for anyone checking a crossing, a bank, or a small intake near the site.
The seasonal pattern is clear. December is the usual high month, with a typical level of 0.2 m (0.65 ft), while September is the usual low month, with a typical level of 0.06 m (0.2 ft). The typical annual swing is 13.5 cm (5.3 in), which is enough to matter for shallow margins, but not so large that the river usually leaves a very wide band of waterline change.
That pattern fits a rain-driven setting. Winter and spring tend to do more of the lifting, while the warm part of the year can run lower for longer. On this river, that means the calmer stretch for boating, crossings, or stock watering is not fixed by the calendar; it follows the rain.
The record high is 1.1 m (3.62 ft), set in June 2012. For anyone living nearby, that is the upper reach this gauge has shown in its record, and it is the level to keep in mind when judging how much room the channel has had in the past.
The record low is 0 m (0.01 ft), set in September 2026. That tells you the lower edge can get very close to the gauge floor in late-season conditions.
With 18 years on record, the station has enough history to show a real seasonal rhythm, but also enough to remind users that one wet spell can stand out sharply from the rest. On a coastal-plain or piedmont-style rain regime, hurricane-season deluges can rewrite records, so sudden rises deserve attention even on a small catchment.
The hero number on this page is best read as today’s level compared with the median for this calendar day across the station’s record. That is more useful than raw elevation, because it shows whether the river is running above or below its usual place for this date.
At a SEPA station, that comparison is the quick check worth watching. It tells a cottager, angler, or farmer whether the river is behaving normally for the season, or whether today sits outside the middle of the record.
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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