England Groundwater Level Dataset
Monthly and annual groundwater levels at long-record observation boreholes in England, in metres above Ordnance Datum. The Chilgrove House borehole in the South Downs chalk has been dipped since 1836.
Methodology
Manual dipped water-table elevations are read from the Environment Agency Hydrology Data Explorer and averaged by month. Dipped readings are taken by hand, typically weekly or monthly, so a monthly figure may rest on a single reading and represents the level observed in that month rather than a continuous average. Readings impossible for their own borehole — beyond the series median by more than the greater of 50 m and twelve interquartile ranges — are rejected, because a global plausible range cannot catch a level that is ordinary under Trafalgar Square and impossible in the Sussex chalk.
What this dataset cannot tell you
Coverage
| Subjects | English observation boreholes with a record opening before 1970 — 409 held |
|---|---|
| Period | 1836–2026 |
| Units | m |
| Update cadence | Monthly |
| Identifier | england-groundwater-levels v1.0.0 |
Fields
Data dictionary →Every metric this dataset carries, with the unit it is stored in and the geography level it is reported at. Full definitions are in the data dictionary.
| Identifier | Field | Unit | Reported at |
|---|---|---|---|
groundwater-level | Groundwater level | m | borehole |
Rights and access
Licence position
Open with attribution. Derivative use true; redistribution true; commercial reuse true.
Attribution required:
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Permitted uses
- Public display
- Derived analysis
- API delivery
- Bulk download
- Commercial use
Available to: Public, Developer, Research, Professional, Enterprise. These follow from the rights of the contributing publishers, not from a Hydrionis pricing decision — no access tier can widen what a publisher withheld.
Contributing sources
Suggested citation
Hydrionis (2026), England Groundwater Level Dataset, version 1.0.0. Retrieved from https://hydrionis.com/data/datasets/england-groundwater-levels/
Cite the version. Hydrionis datasets change as publishers release and as methods are revised, and a citation without a version cannot be checked later.
Changelog
Version 1.0.0 — 2026-08-24
First release.
Additions
- Monthly and annual levels for 409 long-record English boreholes.
Getting the data
Machine-readable metadata for this dataset is at /api/v1/datasets/england-groundwater-levels.json. For bulk extracts, higher-volume access or commercial licensing, see data enquiries.