The person behind the tools

About LakeLevelNow

I'm an independent developer and I build small, fast utility sites. LakeLevelNow is one of them. Check how full a lake is, see a 30-day trend, and get a straight answer on whether you can launch a boat, pulled straight from USGS and CDEC gages. No account, no pop-ups, no essay before the gauge loads.

Solo. Full-time. Coffee-powered.
44
lakes in the registry
2
live data feeds (USGS + CDEC)
0
sign-ups required
0
ads or pop-ups
What I build

One job per site, done fast

Most lake-level sites are scraped tables that haven't been updated since the last flood season, or a single hobbyist page for one reservoir. I went the other way. Every lake pulls its own live gage (USGS for most, CDEC for California reservoirs) so the number you see is the same one the operator reports, stamped with exactly when it was taken.

The "can I launch?" read turns a raw elevation into the thing you actually wanted to know: will the ramp be in the water this weekend. It's a level-based guide, not a guarantee. Always confirm the ramp with the operator before you go.

I build the whole site on my own and work on it full time. That's the only reason the data stays fresh and a request for a new lake actually gets read the same day.

The honest part

What's live, and what isn't

Not every lake has a real-time gage. Some I wired up and the feed went dark; those show "feed connecting" and reference data, never a made-up number. A reading only counts as live if it's within seven days; anything older gets flagged "may be delayed" rather than passed off as current.

So I'd rather hear what's wrong than guess at it. Wrong gage, mislabeled lake, a reservoir you'd like added: send it over. Small fixes usually ship the same week, and the bigger ideas go on a list I actually work through.

Support and access

Keep it free, or get all of it

Every page here is free and stays free. There's no paywall on the water level, and there never will be. Two options if you want more than that.

Pro · one payment
$4.99
A small thank-you for the work. It covers the server bill, pushes your requests up the list, gets you new tools before they go public, and keeps the site ad-free.
  • Your feature requests near the top of the queue
  • Early access to tools still in testing
  • No subscription, nothing to cancel
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Where everything lives

Tools, code, and a real inbox

The tools, the membership, and the rest of what I make all live on zovo.one. The code I can share sits on GitHub. Got a question before you spend anything? Email me and a real person (me) writes back.

Try the tools first

The best way to decide is to use the thing

Start with a lake you know. Check how full it is and whether you can launch. Come back if you want the rest.

Browse the lakes →