WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Spey at Kincraig in Scotland, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
Spey at Kincraig is a gauged river in Scotland.
The station record runs for more than 50 years, so it gives a long view of what this reach can do. The highest level in that record is 3.34 m (10.96 ft) in January 2008. The lowest is 0 m (0 ft) in December 1978. For someone keeping an eye on a bank, a landing, or a pump intake, that range shows the river has reached both very high water and complete slack at this gauge.
The seasonal pattern is clear too. January is the typical high month at 0.67 m (2.19 ft), while July is the typical low month at 0.26 m (0.85 ft). That is the pattern a dock, ford, or shallow intake has to live with from winter into summer. The typical annual swing is 40.9 cm (16.1 in), which is enough to matter when you are judging access or clearance from one season to the next.
This is a river gauge with a catchment above the station of 764 km2 (295 sq mi). That is the drainage area feeding this reach at Kincraig, not a wider basin summary. In practice, the station reflects what falls and runs off upstream of this point, so changes in the upper catchment show up here.
The regional pattern also fits a river that responds in winter and spring, with quieter warm-season levels. July is the lowest typical month here, so late-summer low water is part of the normal cycle at this gauge.
The hero number on this page compares today’s reading with the median for this calendar day across SEPA’s record. That is better than a raw elevation because the same height can mean different things at different times of year. A level that sits near the middle of the long record for this date is easier to read in context than the number alone.
For river users, that comparison helps answer a practical question: is today’s water unusual for this day, or is it close to what the station normally sees at this point in the season?
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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