RiverFinn
Data & transparency
Every number has a source, a time, and a link.
RiverFinn is a reader of official instruments and notices, not a producer of them. What you see in the app is what the gauge, the forecast office or the agency published — labelled with when they observed it and when RiverFinn last checked.
USGS
The U.S. Geological Survey's water-data network. Discharge, and water temperature where the station measures it, typically every 15 minutes.
Colorado DWR
Colorado Division of Water Resources stations that fill in where a USGS gauge is not on the reach.
National Weather Service
The NWS grid forecast for each reach's coordinates: temperature, wind and precipitation for the coming days.
State wildlife agencies
Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks, Washington Fish & Wildlife, and the reference pages of Michigan DNR and Oregon Fish & Wildlife.
Two timestamps, on purpose
Observed is when the gauge or the forecast office took the measurement. RiverFinn checked is when RiverFinn last asked for it. They are shown separately because they mean different things: a reading can be fresh on our side and hours old at the station, and you deserve to see both.
What RiverFinn never does
- No fake water temperature. If the reach has no thermometer, the app says "no live reading". It does not model one from air temperature.
- No invented gauge data. A stale reading is labelled stale. A missing one is missing.
- The exact limitation, when a measurement is unavailable. "Measured at a different station on this reach", "not enough years of record for a comparison", "reference only — the agency does not publish per-reach notices".
- No score without enough measurement. The Conditions Score only appears when enough of its inputs are real, and a verified hard limit caps it however the rest reads.
- Closures come first. A closed water shows closed on the map, the card and the river page, ahead of any number.
Official links, one tap away
Every river page in the app has a Data Sources panel listing the station, the provider, both timestamps and a link to the official page for the flow, the temperature, the flow record, the forecast, the advisories and the regulations. Check RiverFinn against the source any time you like — that is the point.
See the sources yourself.
Open any river in RiverFinn and tap Data Sources.