Peters:

It just a long transparent tube. The idea is that, with both ends of the tube open, a line between water levels in the two ends is always going to be level irrespective of what happens to the tube in-between the ends.

The traditional use of a water level is for leveling things like post tops or form ends that are raised above ground level. In this type application, you don't actually need a level line but just a series of points along a line or around a reference point that are level. It’s handy because points too distant to use a single span and carpenter’s level can be leveled. You just drag one end of the tube anywhere it’s needed. However, both vertical drop and horizontal distance can be measured and percent grade calculated using a water level. Ed's bucket idea provides a reservoir so a reference end can be set, and the water lever will remain constant no matter what is done with the rest of the tube.

Anyway, I didn’t think about maybe not being able cut down the hill enough due to tree roots to make an adequate drainage angle until I actually started measuring how much of a cut I’d need to make near the tree. Then, I started to wonder if I really wanted to have a 2’ step down and up every time I crossed the property there, and now I’m wondering how I’d manage erosion on the cuts. I'm rethinking.

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