Black Releases

Jackson County,WI

Releases are scheduled for the third Saturday of each month from April through August, however they are often subject to last minute cancellation (at the discretion of the hydro company) if there is not sufficient inflow to the reservoir. It is best to call to confirm, though sometimes the decision to cancel is not made until Saturday morning.

Call 1-888-HYDROWI for a recorded message from the hydro company detailing release amounts. Unfortunately, the message may not distinguish between water in the natural (boater-interest) channel and water heading down the bypass to the powerhouse. Reportedly, this can divert up to 1600cfs.

in an attempt to comply with the spirit of the water sharing agreement with FERC and the National Park Service - through which releases for the 3rd Saturday (Apr - Aug) were negotiated - they will now lower their cutoff flow to 150cfs coming into Arbutus (previously 400). The amount of water released will be lowered significantly as well. For June they allegedly plan a release of 400cfs for 3 hours. The intent is to make the top section right below the dam (class IV at that level) boatable.

For more information: Jeff Polzine at (715) 284 1946 w or (715) 284 4417 h

Angie Tornes (NPS, FERC) at 414-297-3605

Additional boating opportunities exist in spring, as it is often one of the earlier runs to open up in spring (if you can take the cold water) when power is not being generated and/or flows exceed capacity of hydroplant.

While USGS gauges exist on this river both upstream and down, they are unreliable as an indicator for the flow in this reach which is controlled by the dam.