WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Bourne Brook at Hints in England, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
Bourne Brook at Hints is a gauged river in England.
This station has more than 26 years on record, so the pattern here is long enough to show the usual shape of the brook. The highest typical month is February at 1.18 m (3.86 ft), and the lowest typical month is September at 1.06 m (3.49 ft). That is a modest spread, but it still matters for intakes, small crossings, and bank access when levels slide toward late summer.
The record high is 1.84 m (6.04 ft), in February 2026. The record low is 0.65 m (2.13 ft), in April 2022. For anyone living beside the channel, those two points frame the range this gauge has actually seen: winter can push it high, while spring can still be very low.
The typical annual swing is 11.3 cm (4.4 in). That is a small seasonal change for a river gauge, which tells you this reach usually moves within a fairly tight band through the year.
The monthly pattern fits temperate hydrology: the higher water tends to come in winter and the lower water later in the warm season. For anglers, that means the habitat depth you see in late winter is not the one you can count on in September. For cottagers and riparian landowners, a short dock, low pump intake, or shallow outfall has to tolerate both the February high and the late-season low.
The number on the page is most useful when you compare today’s level with the median for this calendar day across the station record, not just with the raw height of the water. Raw elevation tells you where the surface sits right now; the median tells you whether today is ordinary for this date at Bourne Brook at Hints.
That makes the live reading easier to use for day-to-day decisions. A level near the median is close to the station’s usual condition for this date. A level well above or below it is more relevant than the absolute number alone, because it shows how the brook is behaving against its own history at this EA station.
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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