WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Pope Creek near Keithsburg in IL, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Pope Creek near Keithsburg sits in the Flint-Henderson watershed in Illinois.
The station drains 174 sq mi (451 km2) upstream of the gauge. That is the area feeding the reading here, not the whole watershed name on the page. For nearby landowners, this is the reach to watch for local runoff and for the water level that affects low crossings, bank access, and intakes upstream of the station.
The record high is 29.42 ft (8.97 m), set in April 2013. The record low is 17.41 ft (5.31 m), from October 1994. That spread matters: this creek can move from a low autumn stage to a much higher spring stage, and the station has the record to show it.
Seasonally, the highest typical month is May at 20.83 ft (6.35 m), and the lowest typical month is September at 19.09 ft (5.82 m). The typical annual swing is 20.8 in (52.9 cm). That is a modest seasonal range, but on a flat landscape even a small change can alter how long water sits in ditches, how easy a landing is to use, and how much clearance a low bank or crossing has through late summer.
The regional pattern here matches prairie-midwest hydrology: winter-spring rain and melt floods dominate, and summer recessions are common. On this creek, that means the spring climb is the period to watch most closely.
The hero number on this page is today’s reading set against the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation because it tells you whether the creek is running near its usual stage for this date, not just how high it happens to be above sea level.
This is a USGS station with more than 50 years on record, so the comparison is grounded in a long local history.
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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