WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Blackberry Creek near Yorkville in IL, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Blackberry Creek near Yorkville sits in the Lower Fox watershed in Illinois.
This USGS station watches 70.2 sq mi (182 km2) upstream of the gauge. That is the drainage area feeding the creek at this point, not the whole watershed name on the page.
For people living or working near the channel, the main thing to watch is how quickly the creek responds after wet weather. In prairie-midwest systems, winter-spring rain and melt floods dominate, and flat ground can hold high water in place for a while. Summer usually eases back.
The highest level in the record is 11.27 ft (3.44 m) in July 1996. The lowest is 2.47 ft (0.75 m) in September 2005. That spread is the difference between a creek that can cover a lot more bank and one that sits much lower in the channel.
Seasonally, the typical high point is March at 4.17 ft (1.27 m). The typical low point is September at 3.33 ft (1.02 m). The typical annual swing is 10 in (25.5 cm). For dock owners, anglers, and anyone with an intake or crossing nearby, that swing is the routine range to expect across the year.
There is no fastest 24-hour rise listed in the facts here, so I will not guess at warning time from this station.
The hero figure on this page is the current reading set against the median for this calendar day across the station’s record. That is more useful than raw elevation because it puts today in the creek’s own seasonal context.
With 50 years on record, the benchmark comes from a long local history, not a single wet or dry year. At a USGS station like this one, that comparison is the cleanest way to tell whether the creek is running near its usual level for the date or standing well above or below it.
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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