WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Ches Bay at Mouth of Susq R at Havre de Grace in MD, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Ches Bay at Mouth of Susq R at Havre de Grace is a gauged river in the Gunpowder-Patapsco watershed, Maryland.
This station sits in a reach where month-to-month change matters more than any single reading. The record shows a highest month of September at 0.87 ft (0.26 m) and a lowest month of January at 0.12 ft (0.04 m). For anyone using a dock, a ramp, or an intake, that is the seasonal range to watch: late summer and early fall have tended to sit higher than midwinter.
The longer record helps define the limits of this site. Over more than 14 years, the river has reached 3.56 ft (1.09 m) in October 2012 and dropped to -2.25 ft (-0.69 m) in January 2018. Those are the edges this reach has already shown, and they matter when you are judging what counts as ordinary versus high or low water here.
The typical annual swing is 8.9 in (22.7 cm). That is a useful number for planning around everyday changes: a small swing on paper can still be enough to shift shoreline access, affect shallow-water fishing, or change how quickly a boat floats free.
The seasonal pattern here is fairly compact, but the extremes are not. A September high and a January low fit the rhythm of this station, while the October 2012 peak and January 2018 low show that the reach can move outside its typical band when conditions line up that way.
Because this is a USGS station, the measurements are the local gauge record for this site. That makes them useful for comparing one day with another on the same river reach, rather than with a broader bay or watershed average.
The hero number on this page compares today’s reading with the median level for this calendar day across the station’s record. That is more useful than raw elevation alone because it tells you whether the river is sitting above, below, or near its usual level for this date.
With more than 14 years of record, the comparison is grounded in this station’s own history, not a generic benchmark. For a river watcher, that is the number that helps answer the practical question: is today normal for this day at this gauge, or not?
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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