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SwedenOwer water level
River gauge, River Blackwater, Hampshire, United Kingdom
Right now
Low for mid-October
Water level
History
20252026
What this means
At 0.06 m, the River Blackwater at Ower is below normal for mid-October.
The median for mid-October is 0.08 m, based on 21 years of readings, so the river level is 0.02 m below typical. A year ago it stood at 0.06 m as well.
It has barely moved over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. Over the past 30 days it has moved between 0.05 m and 0.07 m.
Autumn rain usually starts to lift rivers again after the summer low.
Compared with 21 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels
Key numbers
- Median for this date
- 0.08 m0.02 m below the median for this date
- Normal for this date
- 0.06 m – 0.24 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
- Normal range
- 0.04 m – 2.07 m
- Same day last year
- 0.06 m0.00 m
- Lowest and highest in 30 days
- 0.05 m – 0.07 m
- Lowest and highest in 12 months
- 0.05 m – 1.98 m
- Highest on record
- 3.26 mDecember 24, 2013
- Lowest on record
- 0.02 mSeptember 1, 1983
On the river at Ower
Low, clear water makes fish wary, and anglers often do better early and late in the day. For canoeists, shallow riffles mean scraped hulls and the odd portage.
Flood warnings for the area come from the Environment Agency.
About the River Blackwater
The River Blackwater is a river in Essex, England. It rises as the River Pant in the northwest of the county, just east of Saffron Walden, and flows in a generally southeast direction to Bocking, near Braintree, via Great Sampford and Great Bardfield. At Bocking, it becomes the River Blackwater, and veers east to flow past Bradwell Juxta Coggeshall and Coggeshall. It then veers south, flowing past Kelvedon and Witham, before reaching Maldon. There, it veers east again and empties into the Blackwater Estuary, which in turn meets the North Sea at Mersea Island. The river is connected to Domsey Brook in Essex.
Text and image from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA.
Weather at the gauge
Rain in the last 3 days: 4.7 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.
Forecast: Open-Meteo
Map
Other gauges on the River Blackwater
| Gauge | Level | Compared with normal | 24 hours | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SwallowfieldRiver gauge, River Blackwater | 0.20 m | Very low | ±0 | 62 km |
| Swallowfield Side ChannelRiver gauge, River Blackwater | 0.18 m | Very low | ±0 | 62 km |
| EversleyRiver gauge, River Blackwater | 0.54 m | Very low | −0.02 m | 63 km |
| TonghamRiver gauge, River Blackwater | 0.66 m | Normal | −0.03 m | 64 km |
| FarnboroughRiver gauge, River Blackwater | 0.60 m | Low | −0.08 m | 67 km |
| Blackwater BridgeRiver gauge, River Blackwater | 1.33 m | High | −0.01 m | 67 km |
Nearby gauges
| Gauge | Level | Compared with normal | 24 hours | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LongbridgeRiver gauge, River Test | 0.75 m | Lowest on record | ±0 | 2.7 km |
| Conagar BridgeRiver gauge, River Test | 0.39 m | Very low | ±0 | 3.1 km |
| RivermeadRiver gauge, River Test | 10.95 m | High | ±0 | 4.3 km |
| Brewery GrillRiver gauge, Oxlease Drain | 16.91 m | Normal | ±0 | 4.8 km |
| Plaza GrillRiver gauge, Barge Canal | 16.27 m | Low | −0.01 m | 4.9 km |
| Romsey Botley RoadRiver gauge, Tadburn Lake | 0.31 m | High | −0.01 m | 5.1 km |
| Ashurst BridgeRiver gauge, Bartley Water | 3.71 m | Normal | −0.01 m | 5.2 km |
| OxleaseRiver gauge, River Test | 14.91 m | Low | ±0 | 5.2 km |
Questions and answers
Is the River Blackwater at Ower higher than last year?
It is about the same as on this day last year, when the reading was 0.06 m.
What is a normal level for the River Blackwater at Ower in mid-October?
The median for mid-October is 0.08 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.06 m and 0.24 m, based on 21 years of records.
Is the river level the same as the depth of the water?
No. The reading is measured from a fixed zero mark at the gauge, so 0.06 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.
What is the water level of Ower today?
On 17 Oct 2026, 18:45 BST, the water level was 0.06 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.
Is Ower rising or falling?
Steady over the last 24 hours. Steady over the last 7 days.
Is the level of Ower normal?
Low for mid-October. Compared with 21 years of daily readings for this time of year.
What is the highest water level ever recorded at Ower?
The highest level on record is 3.26 m on December 24, 2013. The lowest is 0.02 m on September 1, 1983.
For specialists
Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
- Operator
- Environment Agency
- Station code
ea:E13291(Agency page)- Coordinates
50.95503, -1.53413(WGS84)- Vertical datum
- station datum
- Update interval
- every 15 minutes
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains Environment Agency data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0
Published series
| Parameter | Last value | Time (UTC) | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water level | 0.06 m | 2026-10-17 17:45 | Provisional |
Download
Embed this gauge
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How to cite
Environment Agency: Ower (ea:E13291). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/hampshire/ower
How we check values
Each reading is stored as published. We hold back values that jump faster than physically plausible and show the measurement time with every value.
Readings are provisional, can be delayed or wrong and are not a flood warning. Read the disclaimer