Whitewater Spill Opportunity on Klamath River, Oregon

Posted: 05/05/2003

By: John Gangemi

PacifiCorp is planning a two-week maintenance shut-down on the J. C. Boyle powerhouse in late June. This shut-down will cause spills of 1000-1500 cfs into the 5 mile dewatered reach between the J.C. Boyle dam and powerhouse. This section is upstream of the Hell's Corner run.

In September 2002, American Whitewater conducted a Controlled Flow Whitewater Study of this reach. The study found numerous outstanding Class IV rapids on flows between 1000 and 1600 cfs. There are nine distinct Class IV rapids in this section, some of which are as much as a half mile in length. Visit the J.C. Boyle streamkeeper page to learn more about the whitewater opportunities on this reach. Better get these dates on your calendar. By the way, the car camping and mountain biking is also awesome in this area. The dates for the shutdown are tentatively set for June 16 through 29. During the week flows may fluctuate in the bypass to accommodate fishery studies. There is likely to be good boatable water (approximately 1500 cfs) in the bypass reach on the weekend of June 21-22 and maybe 28-29. American Whitewater will provide updates as information becomes available.