WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Clear Creek near Coralville in IA, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Clear Creek near Coralville is a river in the Lower Iowa watershed in Iowa.
The USGS record at this station runs for more than 50 years. The highest level on record was 13.71 ft (4.18 m) in April 2013. The lowest was 0.44 ft (0.14 m) in October 2024.
The seasonal pattern is modest compared with those extremes. February is the typical high month at 2.54 ft (0.77 m), while August is the typical low month at 1.38 ft (0.42 m). The usual annual swing is 13.9 in (35.2 cm).
For someone with a dock, pump, or fishing spot, that means the creek usually moves within a fairly small band, but the record shows it can leave that band quickly during flood seasons. The record low is recent, which matters for shallow crossings and small intakes. The record high is far above the usual monthly levels, which is the kind of jump that changes bank access and current speed.
The gauge drains 98.1 sq mi (254 km2) upstream of the station. That is the catchment feeding this reading, not the whole Lower Iowa watershed. In this part of the Midwest, spring snowmelt and rain on frozen or saturated ground can push water up fast, and summer storms can do the same for short periods. Between those events, flat-country drainage tends to ease levels down.
The hero number on this page is best read against the median for this calendar day, not just as a raw elevation. A stage by itself tells you almost nothing about where this creek sits relative to its own usual pattern. Compared with the day-of-year median, you can tell whether today is running high, low, or near normal for this station’s record.
This page uses the USGS station record, which gives the right local context for a reach with more than 50 years of observations.
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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