Otter C at Climax Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Otter C at Climax in KS, United States, built from official government gauge data.
- Location KS, United States
- Watershed fall
- Primary gauge 07167500 (USGS)
About Otter C at Climax
Otter Creek in the Fall watershed, Kansas, is monitored at Climax.
What the record shows
The record at this station runs back more than 50 years, and the range is wide enough to matter for anyone watching the banks or a crossing. The highest level in the file is 22.57 ft (6.88 m), in November 1998. The lowest is 0.47 ft (0.14 m), in October 2023.
The seasonal pattern is much tighter than those extremes. The typical high point comes in May at 2.69 ft (0.82 m), and the typical low point comes in September at 1.87 ft (0.57 m). That seasonal swing is 9.8 in (25 cm). For a small stream like this, that is the band a dock, intake, or shallow ford has to live with most years.
In plains country, sharp rises can come fast when convective storms land on already wet ground, and long dry recessions can follow. The record here fits that kind of stop-start rhythm, with low water in late season and higher water in spring.
The watershed
This gauge drains 129 sq mi (334 km2) upstream of the station. That is the area feeding the reading, not the full watershed elsewhere on the map.
At this scale, changes upstream can show up quickly in the channel, but flat-land drainage also tends to hang onto high water once it arrives. For cottagers, anglers, and farm operators, that means the stage can change enough to matter between visits, and the low-water season can be the harder one for access and shallow crossings.
Reading the hero number
The number on this page is most useful when you compare today’s reading with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That puts the stage in context: whether today is ordinary for this date, high for the season, or running below the usual mark.
Raw elevation by itself tells less. A stage of 2 ft (0.61 m) can be high for one date and ordinary for another. The calendar-day median lets you judge the present reading against what this creek usually does at this point in the year.
This station is operated by the USGS, and its record covers 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
