Big Creek near Needville Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Big Creek near Needville in TX, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location TX, United States
- Watershed lower brazos
- Primary gauge 08115000 (USGS)
About Big Creek near Needville
Big Creek near Needville sits in the Lower Brazos watershed in Texas.
The watershed
This station watches 42.8 sq mi (111 km2) upstream of the gauge. For a creek this size, the water can change quickly after rain. In flash-flood country, that matters for roads, low crossings, and any bank or intake that sits close to the channel.
The record on this site covers more than 50 years, so the range here is long enough to include both quiet stretches and sharp swings. That is the kind of history a neighbour can use: it shows what the creek has done at this point on the channel, not what the wider watershed might do somewhere else.
What the numbers say
The highest level in the record was 21.1 ft (6.43 m) in August 2017. The lowest was 1.67 ft (0.51 m) in April 2025. That is a wide spread for one station, and it tells you the creek can move from very low water to a much higher stage over the life of the record.
The usual seasonal pattern is tighter than the record extremes. January is the highest typical month at 5.68 ft (1.73 m), and October is the lowest typical month at 5.29 ft (1.61 m). The typical annual swing is 4.7 in (11.9 cm). For someone watching a dock, pump, or bank line, that means the normal year is fairly steady even though the record includes larger departures.
No fastest 24-hour rise is listed for this site, so there is nothing specific to add on warning time from the record provided here.
Reading the hero number
The number shown on the page is today’s reading compared with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation alone because it places the creek in its normal seasonal setting. A stage that looks high in October may be ordinary in January, and the median helps separate that from a true departure.
This gauge is operated by the USGS. With more than 50 years on record, the comparison has enough history behind it to be meaningful for anyone checking conditions before a trip, a crossing, or a day on the water.
How this page is built
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.
How Nibi Metrics works · Water stories
Nibi Metrics - live water levels, flow, and forecasts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK
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.
What you can see for any monitored lake or river
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.
Alerts that watch the water for you
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.
Where Nibi comes from
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.
Coverage
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.
Free forever, funded by members
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.
Water Stories
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How every number is computed - About the platform
