South Esk (Lothian) at Cowbridge Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for South Esk (Lothian) at Cowbridge in Scotland, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
- Location Scotland, United Kingdom
- Primary gauge sepa-5981 (Water Survey of Canada)
About South Esk (Lothian) at Cowbridge
South Esk (Lothian) at Cowbridge is a gauged river in Scotland.
What the record shows
This station has 34 years on record, so the page is working with a fairly solid local history. The highest level in that record was 1.41 m (4.64 ft) in May 2024, and the lowest was 0.2 m (0.66 ft) in September 1993. For anyone taking water from the reach, working a bank, or launching a boat, that spread is the range the site has already shown.
The seasonal pattern is also clear. January is the highest typical month at 0.46 m (1.5 ft), while August is the lowest typical month at 0.28 m (0.91 ft). That is the kind of winter-to-late-summer shift that matters for intakes, shallow crossings, and fish holding water. The typical annual swing is 18 cm (7.1 in), which gives a compact measure of how much the river usually moves through the year.
The river
The catchment above this station is 156 km2 (60.2 sq mi). That is the drainage feeding this gauge, so conditions upstream are what show up here. In a rain-driven coastal-plain and piedmont setting, winter and spring rains often set the higher side of the cycle, while warm-season low water can settle in through August. Heavy tropical rain can also reset records quickly when it reaches the basin.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page is the present reading set against the median for this calendar day across the station record. That comparison is more useful than raw elevation because it tells you whether the river is running near its usual level for this date, or whether it is sitting above or below its normal seasonal position.
The record is from SEPA, and with 34 years on file it gives a practical reference for what this river has done before.
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.
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