Whitewater boating opportunities are made available on the Kaukauna reach of the Fox River on the third and fourth Saturdays in June, the last Saturday in September, and the first Saturday in October if inflow to the project exceeds 3000 cfs. For a release to occur whitewater boaters need to notify Kaukauna by email or telephone no more than 30 days prior to and no later than 10:00 a.m. Central Daylight Time the Friday prior to a scheduled release for flows to be released into the river channel for whitewater boating.
Whitewater releases are provided in accordance with the following flow criteria:
- No release is required if the river flows calculated at Rapide Croche are below 3,000 cfs.
- When river flows at Rapide Croche are between 3,000 to 6,000 cfs, all flows will be diverted to the bypass, and Badger Hydro will be shut down.
- When river flows are above 6,000 cfs at Rapide Croche, Badger Hydro will have one or two units on line in an attempt to maintain a 6,000 cfs release to the bypass.
- One to two days prior to the scheduled release, KU will make an estimate of flows for the weekend, in consultation with the USACE, and determine which of the above scenarios will apply. This information will be posted on our website.
- KU will not monitor the releases with an on-site presence.
To make a request, the email notification must be sent to both ops@ku-wi.org and zmoureau@ku-wi.org to request the release. If you choose to make a telephone notification, you must call KU System Operations at (920) 766-5988 and select option 4.