WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Douglas Water at Happendon in Scotland, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
Douglas Water at Happendon is a gauged river in Scotland.
The station drains 97 km2 (37.5 sq mi) above the gauge. That is the piece of land feeding this reach, so rises here reflect rain that has already reached the channel upstream of Happendon. For people watching the river for crossings, banks, or field drains, the catchment size gives a sense of how much water can arrive at once after wet weather.
The seasonal pattern is clear. January is the typical high month at 0.46 m (1.5 ft), while July is the typical low month at 0.24 m (0.79 ft). That is a useful spread for docks, intakes, and anglers choosing where to cast or launch through the year.
The record range is wider still. The highest level on record is 1.54 m (5.07 ft), set in December 2022, and the lowest is 0 m (0 ft), set in October 1989. Those are the extremes this reach has already shown, so they are the levels that matter when you are thinking about flood margin or a very low summer run.
The typical annual swing is 21.7 cm (8.5 in). That is not a huge average change, but it is enough to shift shallow margins and make a difference to access at the bank.
The hero number compares today with the median for the same calendar day across the station’s record. That is more useful than raw elevation because it tells you whether today is normal for this date, high for the season, or running below the usual pattern.
Here the station is operated by SEPA, so the comparison is anchored to this gauge’s own history. For a river with rain-driven seasonality, that seasonal context matters more than the number alone.
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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