WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Valley Brook at Marshfield Bridge in England, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
Valley Brook at Marshfield Bridge is a gauged river in England.
This station has more than 50 years of record, so the seasonal pattern here is worth watching on its own. The usual high point comes in January at 0.35 m (1.14 ft), while July is the usual low point at 0.21 m (0.69 ft). That gap is not large, but it is enough to matter for a bridge reach, a bank-side crossing, or any small intake that sits close to the water surface.
The record high is 1.91 m (6.26 ft), set in January 2021. The record low is 0.09 m (0.3 ft), set in September 1979. Those two values bracket the range this gauge has seen, and they show how much the brook can move beyond its typical seasonal band.
The typical annual swing is 13.7 cm (5.4 in). For people using the river day to day, that is the number that helps translate the gauge into practical change: how much clearance can shrink, how much a bank may be exposed, and how much water level can shift between the river’s higher and lower months.
The monthly pattern fits temperate hydrology: higher water in the cooler season, lower water in summer. January sits at the top of the typical range, and July sits at the bottom. For cottagers, anglers, and anyone watching a low crossing, that means the river usually asks more of the site in winter and less in midsummer.
The extremes are wider than the typical month-to-month swing. January 2021 reached 1.91 m (6.26 ft), well above the usual January level, while September 1979 reached 0.09 m (0.3 ft), well below the usual July level. Read those as markers of what the gauge can show, not as a forecast.
The hero number on this page is most useful when you compare today’s reading with the median for this calendar day across the record. Raw elevation alone can be misleading, because 0.35 m (1.14 ft) may be ordinary in January and high in July.
That day-by-day comparison is why a gauge becomes practical. It tells you whether the river is behaving like a normal day for this station, or sitting above or below its usual place in the record. The data here come from the Environment Agency, and the 50-year record gives that comparison useful depth.
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.
Field notes and explainers from the Nibi desk - how to read a staff gauge, what a 100-year flood actually means, how snowpack becomes summer water.
For five years, spring 2019 was the mark every Lake Muskoka decision answered to. In April 2026 the lake went two centimeters higher - and the official books have not caught up yet.
Inside the freshet cycle that puts Manitoba shorelines at risk each year - and why 2026 broke the script.
The science of snow water equivalent and why it drives the season ahead.
What the numbers on the measuring stick actually tell you.
Why Central and South Texas rivers go from gravel beds to fifty-year records in an afternoon - including July 2026 on the Nueces.
One percent, every year, forever - unwrapping hydrology's most misunderstood phrase, and how it differs from our own percentiles.