Articles

In response to the ever-increasing demand for water in Colorado, water managers are moving forward with projects aimed at developing new water supplies for Denver and the Front Range. Several of the proposed projects involve billion-dollar schemes to move water across the continental divide, from the Upper Colorado River Basin to the S. Platte basin.While these larger proposals are several years from realization, smaller water projects are moving closer to implementation. One such project, the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP),

AW has completed a study of instream flow needs for recreation on the Crooked River in Oregon. Our thanks go out to Evan Stafford who completed the data analysis and put this report together. The information will provide river managers with important information on how the river is used by whitewater paddlers. We are working on similar efforts throughout the West where we see increasing pressures on limited water resources for irrigation, municipal water supplies, fish and wildlife, and recreation.

In the past decade recreational pressure on the Lower Blue River has increased, resulting in detrimental impacts to natural resources, conflicts with private landowners, and dimishing quality or recreational values and experiences. The Lower Blue River Management Plan is a cooperative effort to develop a strategic framework for protecting natural resources, managing public recreational activities, minimizing conflicts between river users, and protecting private property rights along the lower Blue River, from Green Mountain Reservoir to the confluence with the Colorado

Last month Principle Power Hydro based in San Francisco filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a preliminary permit to develop a series of 9 hydropower projects on the McKenzie River outside of Eugene, OR. These projects would be constructed on the reach that starts at river mile 75 at Scott Creek (just upstream of Paradise Campground) and ends just above Leaburg Dam at river mile 41 (download permit application).   What Would Be Constructed? The applicant

  The US Forest Service is conducting a statewide suitability study to determine which of the outstanding rivers in Utah’s National Forests should be protected as Wild and Scenic Rivers.  The Forest Service released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the suitability study on November 29, 2007.  In this Draft, the Forest Service is recommending that 24 of the 86 rivers that have been identified as eligible for designation should be formally recommended for Wild and Scenic designation.     About

The Alberton Gorge with its rose-colored canyon walls and spine-tingling whitewater is a natural treasure. After more than a decade of effort, the 320 acres of former Montana Power Company lands adjacent to the Alberton Gorge on Montana’s Clark Fork River are being transferred into public ownership. These lands form a corridor along the popular Class III whitewater reach west of Missoula on I-90. Transferring these lands to public ownership ensures public access to this reach of river in perpetuity

Spring is just around the corner and along with spring will come the Annual Tellico River Clean Up on Saturday, March 08, 2008.   Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. at the Tellico Ranger Station.  Last year’s clean up saw over 200 participants and nearly 2 tons of trash was collected along Tellico River, North River and the North Carolina OHV Area.   Everyone is encouraged to wear long sleeves, wear sturdy shoes, bring gloves and something to eat and

  Many paddlers are probably wondering what the hold-up is on the releases planned for the West Fork of the Tuckasegee and the Upper Nantahala.  These dam releases should have started in 2006: they were negotiated by a large group of stakeholders and were supported by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s staff analysis.    For these releases to begin though, Duke Power needs new licenses for their dams.  Before the FERC can issue these licenses, the state of North Carolina

American Whitewater has received news that the US Forest Service has failed to meet yet another deadline in their development of a new recreation management plan on in the upper 21 miles of the river corridor.   In April of 2005 the highest office of the USFS rejected the 2004 management plan which prohibited all boating while allowing other uses to exist in unlimited numbers without monitoring or active management.  The 2005 decision gave the Sumter National Forest two years to

On November 26th, District Judge David Campbell issued his ruling to uphold the 2006 Colorado River Management Plan (CRMP). At issue in this case was the continued use of motors and the allocation between commercial outfitters and recreational river runners.   Plaintiffs who challenged the plan included River Runners for Wilderness, Rock the Earth, Wilderness Watch, and Living Rivers. Defendants included Grand Canyon National Park along with Grand Canyon River Outfitters Association and Grand Canyon Private Boaters Association as intervenors.