WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Back River at Dupont Intake near Kittredge in SC, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Back River at Dupont Intake near Kittredge is in the Cooper watershed in South Carolina.
The record at this station runs back more than 43 years, and the water level has ranged from 13.71 ft (4.18 m) in March 1993 to 21.3 ft (6.49 m) in October 2015.
The seasonal pattern is modest but useful. October is the highest typical month at 16.49 ft (5.03 m), while January is the lowest typical month at 15.63 ft (4.76 m). That typical annual swing is 10.3 in (26.2 cm), which is small enough that a dock, intake, or bank-side setup can still feel steady most of the year, but not so small that a change is meaningless.
For people watching water levels, the main point is that this river’s record includes a wide spread between its low and high extremes. That is the range to keep in mind when deciding how much freeboard or margin to leave.
This station is part of the Cooper watershed, and it is the gauge at Dupont Intake, not the whole watershed itself. The regional pattern here is rain-driven: winter and spring rains matter most, and hurricane-season tropical rainfall can push records higher. Long warm-season low-water stretches are also part of the rhythm.
For anglers and people with water intakes, that means the river can spend long periods near its seasonal lower end, then jump when a strong rain system arrives. The record high in October 2015 fits the part of the year when heavy rainfall can still reset the stage.
The number shown on this page should be read against the median for this calendar day across the station record, not as a raw elevation. That is the better comparison because it tells you whether today is running typical for this date, high for the season, or low for the season.
At a USGS station with more than 43 years on record, that day-by-day median is the most practical way to judge what the river is doing right now.
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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