On June 10 & 11, 2003, a flow study was conducted by American Whitewater with the cooperation of Reliant Energy. Participants included members of the American Whitewater and the Adirondack Mountain Club as well as open boat paddling legend Jim Michaud. The Sacandaga Outdoor Center provided shuttle transportation with their van and trailer. The study revealed two recreational resources: a Class V section containing two park-and-huck waterfalls, and a lower gorge containing good Class III playboating and river running opportunities.
Based on the results of the successful flow study, we were able to negotiate recreational releases on the reach. Each spring a single release is provided and use levels monitored.
The recreation plan defines the release protocol as follows:
“The determination process for the whitewater release dates is outlined in the settlement (section 3.5.1, paragraph 5), and states that after the license is issued, an initial release will occur on the first Wednesday on or after April 15th, and that each subsequent release will alternate between a Saturday and a Wednesday for the term of the new license. Should inflow to the Johnsonville Development fall less that 800 cfs or go above 1,600 cfs, all scheduled flow releases will be postponed for 7 calendar days. This will apply to all additional postponements until the whitewater release event has been completed, or until November 30 of each respective year.”