In October John Gangemi and Kevin Colburn, American Whitewater staff,toured a series of hydropower projects in and around Adirondack State Park inNew York. In the span of nine-days nine hydropower projects encompassingseventeen dams were visited. Five of these projects four of which containmultiple dams are currently going through the relicensing process. AmericanWhitewater is actively engaged in these relicense proceedings fighting torestore whitewater flows to dewatered reaches, access and publiclyaccessible real-time flow information.
“I’ve long awaited an opportunity to paddle in upper New York ever since ChrisKoll spilled the goods on the whitewater treasures of the Adirondacks [1],” claimed Gangemi. “But he didn’t prepare me for the preponderance of dams. Chalk it up to that Yankee ingenuity harnessing work out of every stream.”
The drought conditions limited paddling opportunities to the weekend whitewaterreleases on the Bottom Moose. According to Colburn, “I ran lots of imaginarylines on what look like some classic NY creeks. This place is awesome. Thecreeks are everything you want and the aesthetics are outrageous.”
The drought conditions were more a blessing than a curse since their tightlypacked schedule did not allow much room to get wet on some of New York’s finest. In addition to meeting with utilities for several of the hydropower projects,Gangemi and Colburn also met with boaters in Plattsburgh and Lake Placid onconsecutive nights to explain the hydropower licensing process occurring on somenearby rivers as well as American Whitewater?s role in the process. Clearly,American Whitewater has some work to do restoring rivers in New York. Successon these rivers will require dedicated local boaters with knowledge of these whitewater resources willing to assist American Whitewater in the relicense process. If you would like to assist in any of the projects listed belowcontact John Gangemi, jgangemi@digisys.net or Kevin Colburn,Kevin@AMWhitewater.org.
Partial list of New York rivers where American Whitewater is actively engaged inhydropower relicense proceedings.
Hoosic River: Located ten minutes north of Albany in the town of Schaghticoke.The Hoosic contains a gorge dropping 146 feet in just under two miles. Thehydropower project capitalizes on this same gradient diverting water around thegorge to a powerhouse downstream. Few boaters in the Albany area are even awarethis resource exists because boating flows rarely occur. American Whitewater isworking closely with the utility on this relicense proceeding. Visitwww.geocities.com/brabetz13/index.html for photos of the Hoosic.
Oswegatchie River: American Whitewater staff attended a site visit with FERCstaff from Washington DC in October. This relicense contains two hydro projectsencompassing four dams. The project is located just outside Hailesboro, NewYork. The dams dewater the Island branch, a seven-mile braid of theOswegatchie that contains at least one twelve-foot waterfall. Another sectioncontains a great looking play hole downstream of the Fowler powerhouse.American Whitewater filed written comments in early November on this project.American Whitewater is looking for local boaters to work with us to restoreflows, access and flow information on the Oswegatchie. Visit the photo archivefor pictures of the Oswegatchie https://images.americanwhitewater.org/photo/1027.jpg and https://images.americanwhitewater.org/photo/1028.jpg.
Ausable River: New York State Gas and Electric (NYSEG) is relicensing theRainbow Falls hydroelectric project on the Ausable River. American Whitewaterhas pushed hard for access to the Ausable River in this proceeding because it isthe start of the Class IV Ausable Chasm. The downstream property owner, AusableChasm Company (ACC), doesn?t want boaters in the Chasm claiming that it willimpact their private business. During the whitewater flow study in May 2001, anACC representative falsely stated that boaters could not get out of their boatsto scout individual rapids in the Chasm. Six out of twelve boaters declined toparticipate under those conditions. Under New York state navigability laws,boaters do have the right to get out and scout or portage up to the high watermark. The November 1 and 2, 2001 scoping meeting and site visit was wellattended by local boaters thanks to American Whitewater?s organizing efforts.This is a hotly contested proceeding that could potentially set a precedentthereby threatening access on more than just the Ausable.
Saranac River: NYSEG is also relicensing four dams on the Saranac River justoutside of Plattsburgh. From the looks of the geology, the Saranac probablycontained some great whitewater paddling aesthetically comparable to the AusableChasm prior to dam construction. All that remains within the hydropower projectfor whitewater is a short bedrock section below Kent Falls Dam and a stiff twomile (?) Class V-VI section below High Falls Dam. This proceeding is justgetting underway. American Whitewater is looking for some dedicated boaters toassist with this relicense proceeding. Visit the photo archive for pictures ofthe Saranac. https://images.americanwhitewater.org/photo/1029.jpg,https://images.americanwhitewater.org/photo/1030.jpg,https://images.americanwhitewater.org/photo/1031.jpg andhttps://images.americanwhitewater.org/photo/1032.jpg.
Racquette River: The Piercefield Hydro Power Project influences flows on about aten-mile section of the Racquette River. The powerhouse is located at the dam. The lake formed by Piercefield Dam (located in the town of Piercefield) appearsto have considerable water storage. The downstream river contains distinctsections for Class III and Class IV-V paddling. Contact Kevin Colburn if youhave information about these whitewater resources or would like to assist withthis proceeding.
St. Regis River: American Whitewater recently signed a settlement agreementwith Erie (aka Orion Power, formerly Niagara Mohawk) for the licensing of thishydropower project. The settlement grants public access to the reach as well asrelease of flow information. Visit the photo archive for pictures of the StRegis https://images.americanwhitewater.org/photo/1033.jpg.
[1] Chris Koll, Sept./Oct. 2000. New York – The Whitewater State AmericanWhitewater Journal, Volume XL No. 5, page 56-74.