WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Canons Brook at Harlow, Elizabeth Way in England, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
Canons Brook at Harlow, Elizabeth Way is a gauged river in England.
For this station, the local pattern is simple enough to read from the record. The highest typical month is January at 0.11 m (0.37 ft), while the lowest typical month is September at 0.06 m (0.2 ft). That puts the usual annual swing at 5.1 cm (2 in). For someone watching a bank, a footbridge, or an intake, that is not a large range, but it is enough to matter when water is already close to the edge.
The recorded high level is 1.16 m (3.81 ft) in October 1993. The recorded low is 0.03 m (0.11 ft) in July 2017. Those two marks show the spread this gauge has seen over 50 years on record. If you use the brook regularly, those numbers are the ones that frame what “high” and “low” really mean here.
This is a small-range station most of the time, with winter levels a touch higher than late-summer levels. That fits a temperate pattern: higher water in the wetter season, lower water in summer. The monthly median shape matters more than the single-day spikes when you are judging whether a channel is shallow, whether access points will hold, or whether a low crossing is likely to stay usable.
The record high in October 1993 sits far above the typical January level, so the brook can move outside its usual band when conditions line up. The record low in July 2017 is the other end of the same story: even a modest-looking brook can fall to a very small level.
The number on this page is best read as today’s level against the median level for this calendar day across the station’s record, not as a raw height on its own. That comparison strips out the seasonal cycle, which is useful on a river like this where January and September normally sit at different levels.
With 50 years of record, the benchmark is grounded in a long local history. For an EA station, that makes the hero figure better for judging whether today is ordinary for the date, or whether it sits well above or below what this brook usually does at this time of year.
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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