WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Slad Brook at Merrywalks in England, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
Slad Brook at Merrywalks is a gauged river in England.
This station sits on a small river with a record long enough to show how quickly levels can move from one season to the next. The record here spans more than 17 years, so the pattern is more useful than any single reading.
The highest monthly level in the record is in February, at 0.27 m (0.9 ft), while the lowest monthly level is in July, at 0.19 m (0.63 ft). That typical annual swing is 8.2 cm (3.2 in). For anyone using the brook nearby, that is the kind of range that changes whether a margin stays wet, a crossing runs shallow, or a bank edge sits just above water.
The record high level is 0.82 m (2.68 ft) in December 2020. The record low is -0.42 m (-1.39 ft) in November 2015. Those two points show the spread this gauge has already seen, and they are the numbers to keep in mind if you are watching for unusually high water or planning around low-flow conditions.
The seasonal shape is simple: higher in late winter, lower in midsummer. That fits temperate hydrology, where spring and late-winter levels often run higher and summer water often eases back. On this brook, February is the highest month and July the lowest, so the change is modest but real.
What stands out more than the monthly spread is the gap between the usual seasonality and the record extremes. The brook can sit near its monthly pattern for much of the year, then still reach 0.82 m (2.68 ft) in a wet spell or fall to -0.42 m (-1.39 ft) in a dry one. For cottagers and anglers, that means the day-to-day picture is not enough on its own; the river has already shown it can move well beyond its usual band.
The hero number on this page is most useful when read against the median level for the same calendar day across the EA record, not as a raw height on its own. A level can look high or low by eye, but the calendar-day median shows whether today is above or below what this brook usually does for the date.
That matters here because the station has more than 17 years of record behind it. Water Survey of Canada stations and EA stations are both built for this kind of comparison: a current reading only tells part of the story, while the day-median puts it in seasonal context.
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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