WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Esopus Creek at Allaben NY in NY, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Esopus Creek in the Middle Hudson watershed in New York.
The long record on this creek runs through 50 years of readings. The highest stage in that span was 9.6 ft (2.93 m) in August 2011, and the lowest was 1.77 ft (0.54 m) in August 2012.
The seasonal pattern is steady enough to matter at the dock or bank. The typical high month is April at 3.75 ft (1.14 m), while the typical low month is September at 2.8 ft (0.85 m). That leaves a typical annual swing of 11.4 in (28.9 cm).
For someone fishing or checking access, that spread is the part to watch: April tends to run higher, September lower, and the creek has reached both a notable high and a notable low in the same month, August, in different years.
The station drains 63.7 sq mi (165 km2) above the gauge. That is the upstream area feeding this reading, not the whole Middle Hudson watershed.
In this part of New York, the usual year has a spring snowmelt freshet, with the strongest floods farther upstate. Rain-on-snow events and tropical remnants can bring major floods, while summer usually brings recessions. On this creek, that seasonal rhythm lines up with the record: higher water is more common in spring, and lower stages show up by late summer.
The number on the page is most useful when you compare today’s stage with the median for this calendar day at this station. That tells you whether the creek is running above or below its usual level for this date, which is more useful for boat ramps, intakes, and fishing access than the raw elevation by itself.
This station is operated by the USGS, and the 50-year record gives that comparison some weight.
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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