WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Black Warrior River below Selden Dam near Eutaw in AL, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Black Warrior River below Selden Dam near Eutaw is a gauged river in the Lower Black Warrior watershed, Alabama.
This station has 27 years of record, enough to show the usual shape of the year without losing sight of the bigger swings. The highest typical month is March at 79.73 ft (24.3 m), which fits a rain-fed winter and spring rise. The lowest typical month is October at 73.94 ft (22.54 m), when warm-season water is usually lower between storms.
The typical annual swing is 5.8 ft (1.77 m). For anyone with a dock, an intake, or a boat ramp, that is the range to plan around each year.
The highest level in the station record is 103.63 ft (31.59 m) in February 2020. The lowest is 73.04 ft (22.26 m) in October 2006. Those two readings show the spread this reach can cover in a wet year versus a dry one.
The area above the gauge is 5810 sq mi (15048 km2). That is a large upstream basin for one station, so water on this reach can change with storms well beyond the immediate riverbank. In this part of the South, winter and spring rains usually set the annual peaks, while tropical systems can still drive sharp summer and fall rises.
The hero number on this page is best read against the median for the same calendar day, not as a stand-alone elevation. A single stage reading can look ordinary or high on its own, but compared with the station’s day-by-day record it shows whether this river is running near its usual level for the date.
At this USGS station, that comparison is especially useful because the record already shows a wide seasonal range and some large departures. With 27 years on record, the daily median gives a cleaner check on how the river is behaving today for people watching access, bank conditions, and short-term change.
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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