Middle Oconee River near Athens Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Middle Oconee River near Athens in GA, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location GA, United States
- Watershed upper oconee
- Primary gauge 02217500 (USGS)
About Middle Oconee River near Athens
What the record shows
The Middle Oconee River near Athens sits in the Upper Oconee watershed in Georgia.
The long record runs for 50 years, and the extremes give a sense of how much this river can move. The record high is 17.91 ft (5.46 m), set in March 2003. The record low is 0.14 ft (0.04 m), set in October 2007. For anyone drawing water, watching a crossing, or checking a bank reach, that is a wide range to keep in mind.
The seasonal pattern is narrower but still important. The highest typical month is February at 1.9 ft (0.58 m), and the lowest typical month is September at 1.12 ft (0.34 m). The typical annual swing is 9.4 in (23.8 cm). That is the day-to-day seasonality a dock, intake, or shallow riffle has to live with, even before storms arrive.
No fastest 24-hour rise is listed here, so there is nothing to add on warning time from the station record.
The watershed
This gauge drains 398 sq mi (1031 km2) upstream of the station. That is the area feeding this site, not the full watershed name on the map.
The regional rhythm here is rain-driven. Winter and spring rains usually carry the higher flows, while warm-season low flows can settle in between storms. In this part of the country, hurricane-season tropical systems can also bring sharp rises. For local users, that means the river can look modest for stretches and then change quickly when the rain falls over the basin above the gauge.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is most useful when you compare today’s reading with the median for this calendar day in the station record. That puts the current level in context for this river at this time of year, instead of treating raw elevation as a standalone fact.
This station is operated by the USGS, and the record spans more than 50 years.
How this page is built
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.
How Nibi Metrics works · Water stories
Nibi Metrics - live water levels, flow, and forecasts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK
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.
What you can see for any monitored lake or river
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.
Alerts that watch the water for you
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.
Where Nibi comes from
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.
Coverage
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.
Free forever, funded by members
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.
Water Stories
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How every number is computed - About the platform
