Articles

Montana’s Senator Lane Larson (D-Billings) recently introduced Senate Bill 78, which if signed into law, will support the public’s right to access Montana’s rivers and streams from bridges throughout the state.  The public already has the clear right to paddle, fish, and swim in any river capable of supporting floating.  SB78, the Montana Bridge Access Bill, is sensitive to the needs of landowners, as well as river enthusiasts.  It allows landowners to construct fences adjacent to bridges but requires fences to not block public river

American Whitewater recently requested that the City of Boonton, NJ recognize and support paddling on the Class IV Boonton Gorge on the Rockaway River.  The request follows several incidences of paddlers being told by police that the river is illegal to paddle based on a city/county rule that prohibits swimming.  New Jersey has few whitewater runs, which makes each one all the more important.  We hope to work with local paddlers and the City of Boonton to reach a solution that

This past fall the Portland Whitewater Boating Community came together to celebrate exploration and adventure on the region’s rivers through a film festival sponsored by Next Adventure. Proceeds from the event that included a raffle resulted in a $1100 contribution to American Whitewater. We greatly appreciated this show of support from our friends at Next Adventure and members of the Portland Boating Community. We have several exciting projects underway in the region and this support is critical to our ongoing

In a letter sent today, American Whitewater, Merrimack Valley Paddlers, Mount Washington Valley Paddlers, and the New Hampshire Appalachian Mountain Club requested more information regarding a potential new fee for ownership of non-motorized boats in New Hampshire.  The letter was sent to Lee Perry, the Executive Director of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, and was cc’d to the members of New Hampshire’s Public Water Access Advisory Board. Paddlers were alerted to the possible fee system in a November news article.  The article

Arnold Schwarzenegger announced in his State of the State address that he plans on building more water storage in California. While the Governor did not outline any specific projects in his speech we can only assume that this is not good news for rivers in California. “While we would like to hope that these storage projects would not have a negative impact, to our knowledge the only way to put more water in reservoirs is to take more water out

January 5th and 6th of 2007 marked the first legal descent of the upper Wild and Scenic Chattooga River in over 30 years. A team of kayakers and canoeists took two days to explore the river, traversing countless rapids and small waterfalls as they traveled through a remote and beautiful valley. What they found echoed the findings of the very first exploratory paddling trips made over three decades ago, which inspired the US Congress to designate the Chattooga as a

AW is seeking 1-5 Vermont creek boaters to visit and assess the whitewater potential of several dam influenced river reaches near Rutland, VT.  These reaches are currently off limits to the public but we will likely be able to get a hiking tour in collaboration with the dam/land owner.  Photographs indicate bedrock and gradient but it is impossible to tell whether these reaches actually contain whitewater resources that are of interest to the paddling community without a site visit.   Interested paddlers must

Our volunteer of the month is Rob Smage, a key member of AW’s Stream Team who volunteers his time to maintain and enhance our National River Database. In recognizing Rob we acknowledge the contributions of all our volunteers who have made this project so successful. What started out over a decade ago as a database of whitewater resources on a set of floppy disks is now a truly interactive database that all our members can contribute to. The database provides

Water allocation has always been – and always will be – a major issue in the arid West. Colorado has long struggled with how to best use and share the wealth of water its mountains provide. Recent and ongoing efforts will chart the future of water diversions and could radically impact whitewater paddling as we know it in the state – unless whitewater paddlers step up and represent their interests. Perhaps the most crucial effort for paddlers to be involved

The California Department of Boating and Waterways (DBW) is conducting its first-ever study of non-motorized boating in California. DBW is a State agency whose mission is to provide safe and convenient access to California’s public waterways, and leadership in promoting the public’s right to safe, enjoyable, and environmentally sound recreational boating. A major focus for DBW is to provide grants and loans for boating facilities such as launch ramps and marinas. As non-motorized boating activities have become increasingly popular in

Proposed Powerline to Cross Lower Cheat Drainage Allegheny Energy has released preliminary plans for a 210 mile long 500kv power line from Western Pennsylvania to Northern Virginia. They are applying to designate this a National Interest Energy Transmission Corridor (NIETC), which is part of a much larger plan to increase the reliability of the grid. All three proposed alternatives cross either the Cheat or Big Sandy Rivers in Preston County. Alternative S-3 runs down the Laurel Run valley and crosses

This past fall the Federal Energy Reglatory Commission (FERC) released their Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the Klamath River Hydroelectric Project owned by PacifCorp. The previous license for this project expired in February 2006 and FERC is in the process of determining if a new license to operate this project is in the public interest. The primary issue on this river is the state of declining salmon runs and the devastating impact of four dams operated by PacifiCorp that

On November 10, 2006, a group of committed Colorado boaters gathered in Buena Vista, Colorado with AW stewardship staff to discuss specific Colorado needs and the unique challenges rivers and recreational use of water face in the state. This working group included paddlers, tourism experts, local politicians, outfitters, magazine editors, and water rights advocates. The goal of our meeting was to open the dialog with individuals already active in Colorado river stewardship issues to develop a common vision for improving

Dear Friends,Most of the world views whitewater paddlers as somewhat of a different breed. In many cases they are right to view us as different. Anyone who would willingly get in a small boat and crash down a white frothy river must be a little crazy. Because of this perception, when American Whitewater started to actively participate in restoring dam-influenced rivers over two decades ago we were often made to sit at the back of the bus. Over time our

AW is collecting data on flow preferences for the Feather River, CA. For the next few weeks AW will be conducting a survey of boater experiences at different flows. Click here to take the survey. Please spread the word and fill out the survey after each run on the river. Later this spring we will follow up with a more detailed flow survey asking boaters to compare their experiences at different flows. Your participation now will help us develop this

American Whitewater is proud to announce that we will be creating a new position focused on river stewardship in Colorado.  This move marks the next step in AW’s regional stewardship model, in which regionally based staff assist the paddling community with local river conservation and access issues.  Interested qualified people are encouraged to apply, and regional paddlers are encouraged to help us support this new position through membership and donations of financial support, volunteer assistance, and in-kind services.  The position was defined by a focus group

The Feather will be flowing from late November until the end of December.  PG&E will start spilling between 600 and 900cfs on 11/16 in the Cresta reach.  These flows are projected to continue until the 22nd of December.  ***On this Sunday only, 11/19 both Cresta units will be out of service from 0700 to 1400 for a short outage. The flows in the river in the Cresta Reach will be 2300-2900 cfs during those hours.*** .  The Cresta reach is

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has just released a new 50-year hydropower license for the Chelan Hydroelectric Project (P-637). The project is at the outlet of Lake Chelan, a 1,486-foot deep, 55-mile-long natural glacial lake, that drains into the Columbia River through the Chelan Gorge. For more than 75 years a 3.9 mile section of this gorge was dewatered for most of the year, and no permanent fish habitat existed between the dam and the powerhouse. On October 8,