WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Waller Creek at Koenig Lane, Austin in TX, United States, built from official government gauge data.
Waller Creek at Koenig Lane in the Austin-Travis Lakes watershed, Texas.
The station record runs back more than 19 years. The highest stage in that record was 2.08 ft (0.63 m) in August 2017, and the lowest was 0.11 ft (0.03 m) in September 2011.
The seasonal pattern is narrow but clear. April is the highest typical month at 0.71 ft (0.22 m), while August is the lowest typical month at 0.54 ft (0.17 m). The typical annual swing is 2 in (5.1 cm), so the creek usually sits in a tight range even though short rainfall events can push it well beyond that.
For people who live or fish near the creek, that means the baseline is usually modest, but the extremes are still worth watching. A small channel with a small usual swing can still change quickly in wet weather.
The drainage area above this station is 1.1 sq mi (2.8 km2). That is the catchment that feeds the gauge, not the full watershed name in the site metadata.
This is a flash-flood setting. Rainfall-driven rises can happen in hours, then the creek can spend long stretches low between events. That kind of pattern matters for crossings, low banks, and any spot where someone expects the level to stay near the recent past.
This USGS page is most useful when the current stage is compared with the median for the same calendar day across the station record. That puts today’s reading against what is normal for this date, which is better than raw elevation alone because the same stage can mean very different things in April and August.
With more than 19 years of record, the daily median gives a steadier reference point for judging whether the creek is running low, near typical, or above its usual range for 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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