Official Data

The data for the following river and rain gauges is 'official' and is gathered from the Environment Agency's official data feed:

• Frilsham
• Bucklebury
• Tidmarsh
• Pangbourne
• Sulham
• West Ilsley rain
• Yattendon rain

While the level data is gathered every 15 minutes, it is not always published by the EA every 15 minutes and can take up to 24 hours to be released.

The level of the Tidmarsh gauge shown here has been adjusted by subtracting 100cm.

Unofficial Data - Automatic

The data for the following gauges is 'unofficial':

• Sulham A329

This unofficial data is recorded automatically using an ultrasonic gauge installed by the PVFF. It is subject to an error of about +/- 1cm. A reading is taken every 24 hours.

Unofficial Data - Manual

The data for the following gauges is 'unofficial'. This data is recorded by selected Pang Valley residents:

• Stanford Dingley
• ORC - Old Rectory Cottage (between Tidmarsh and Pangbourne)

This unofficial data is recorded from a gauge board at the side of the river. It is subject to an error of about +/- 1cm. It is not recorded continually and thus for now, is shown as points rather than lines.

The official and unofficial data is shown together for ease of use by Pang Valley residents.

Gauge / Alert	1	2	3	4
Frilsham	44	48	59	62
Bucklebury	55	65	72	80
Tidmarsh	145	156	170	190
Pangbourne	75	78	110	140
Sulham	30	40	75	106

Values are in cm

Alert	Definition	Action
1	River levels are rising	Monitoring and Forecasting Duty Officer starts monitoring
2	River levels are at bankfull	Flood Alerts issued (for whole length of the river) if forecast is for this level to be exceeded.
3	River levels are getting near to flood warning	Consider issuing a Flood Warning (for just the Warning Area associated with the relevant gauge)
4	River level is at property level (first to Flood in Warning Area)	Flood Warning issued (for just the Warning Area associated with the relevant gauge) if forecast is for this level to be exceeded.

Gauge / Level AOD (m)	Typical low	Flooding possible	Flooding likely	Highest observed
Ridgeway Down	104	132	135	139
Gibbet Cottages	106	128	130	133
Hodcott	103	118	120	122
Saltbox	92	103	105	106

Notes:

• Figures have been rounded to the nearest metre (observations 2000-2014).
• Saltbox OBH is located north of Compton where the River Roden rises.
• Ridgeway Down, Gibbet Cottages and Hodcott are nearer the source of the River Pang.
• Data provided by a resident of Compton (not the EA).
• EA Groundwater Situation Report

The EA is currently running the 'West Berkshire Groundwater Scheme' for Thames Water, in response to drought.

They are pumping water from the chalk aquifers in the Upper Pang Valley into pipes that discharge into the River Pang above the Bucklebury gauge. This water then flows down into the Thames and is extracted into London reservoirs.

This means that the river level gauges at Bucklebury, Tidmarsh and Pangbourne are higher than they would otherwise be at the moment. Also the groundwater levels are now falling further than they would otherwise do. The days on which the WBWGS is 'on' are shown with a red horizontal axis on the "River levels Day Max" and "Groundwater levels" charts.

See this letter from the EA about the use of the scheme and to learn more about the WBGWS, read this.

See the WBGWS on our map and turn on this layer "Monitor / Measure" / "PVFF/EA: West Berkshire Groundwater Scheme".