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American Whitewater and Clif Bar are pleased to announce the 8th annual Clif Bar Flowing Rivers Campaign, pledging $2,500 to American Whitewater Affiliate Clubs for river stewardship work. Funding for this program is provided by Clif Bar. AW Affiliate Clubs have the opportunity to apply for one of two $1,250 grants. Grants will be distributed to clubs for projects that promote river stewardship, conservation, access, and/or safety education on our nation’s rivers. Current American Whitewater Affiliate Clubs will receive a

The spread of invasive non-native mussels is a major concern for all of us that value rivers.  Increasingly states and managers are setting up fees, wash stations, and regulations to prevent recreationists from spreading mussels. While the most common threat is mussels "hitch-hiking" on the hulls and in bilge water of trailered boats, it is at least possible that they could be transported by whitewater craft that move from river to river. The adult mussels can attach to the bottom

The USFS announced today that they will further delay reaching a new decision on how to manage recreation on the Upper Chattooga River (NC/SC/GA).  A 2009 decision was withdrawn shortly after its release, and the agency stated a new decision would be released early in the spring of 2010.  The decision remains in limbo, the river remains banned to paddling, and the ban is currently being challenged in federal court. The USFS announcement reads as follows:    "In December 2009,

Are you interested in serving on the Board of American Whitewater? Nominations are being accepted through the month of June. Please read the call for nominations below: Date: Spring 2010From: Norwood Scott, Vice PresidentTo: All interested and qualified AW members Dear AW Member, American Whitewater is seeking nominations of interested and qualified candidates to serve as a Director beginning next January 1, 2011. We have two open board seats to fill during this nomination cycle. A healthy, vibrant, participatory and

    A little something for Everyone at the Wenatchee River Festival 2010! www.wenatcheeriver.com   Between the current economic environment and a transition with key organizers, this year’s festival was in danger of being cancelled.   The initial announcement led to a wake-up call among the community where local volunteers joined together back in March to keep it alive for 2010.  The theme, not surprisingly is "Save the Wenatchee River Festival”.   One group, Riverbooty, had already begun to organize an

Wilderness Whitewater is the theme for our September/October issue of American Whitewater. If you have stories of adventures or reflections on wild, remote rivers, this is your chance to share them. Deadline is June 25th.   Don’t forget to use our new online submission form to upload your stories and photos.   Also, note that we are now accepting entries for our 2010 Story and Photo Contest. Deadline for all contest submissions is August 11th.

Mokelumne Releases for Spring 2012  2012 is a critically dry year so Tiger Creek section will get recreational release weekends but Devil's Nose will not see any releases.  PG&E is expecting the following recreational flows: Tiger Creek – at put-in (M59) minimum of 700 cfs on the following weekends: May 19 & 20 May 26, 27 & 28 June 2 & 3 June 9 & 10 Devil’s Nose – will not have recreational releases. Devil’s Nose does not get recreational

American Whitewater has scheduled a work party with Washington Trails Association for Saturday June 19 from 8:30-3:00 to work on the Sultan River trail into the gorge on the Upper Sultan. As part of the relicensing for the hydropower project on the Sultan River American Whitewater has worked to restore flows to the Sultan River for whitewater recreation and ecosystem processes. While the new agreement we have negotiated will not take effect until at least 2011, we have some important

Instant Information about Water Conditions: Ask the River to Text You a WaterAlertSign up at http://water.usgs.gov/wateralert. Now you can receive instant, customized updates about water conditions by subscribing to WaterAlert, a new service from the U.S. Geological Survey. Whether you are watching for floods, interested in recreational activities or concerned about the quality of water in your well, WaterAlert allows you to receive daily or hourly updates about current conditions in rivers, lakes and groundwater when they match conditions of

Canyon Creek 175 to 200 cfs will be released into Canyon Creek through Thursday, May 20.  On Friday, May 21 through Tuesday, May 25, and maybe beyond, NID will release 300 CFS into Canyon Creek.   Go to awetstate.com for a great video of Canyon Creek shot by Daniel Brasuell and Corey Tucker.  The description of the run is also good:  http://www.awetstate.com/   See Dreamflows “Canyon Creek Below Bowman Lake” for the release out of Bowman into Canyon Creek.  

Over the weekend of May 15 & 16 American Whitewater’s Watauga takeout neighbors hosted a music festival that caused some members of the paddling community to contact American Whitewater with questions regarding the management of the takeout on the Watauga. While no camping occurred at our takeout, there were additional vehicles parked as well as placement of port-a-jons. The recently completed roadwork held up and there was no road damage. American Whitewater is in dialog with our neighbors regarding management

The California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) has issued a 21 day notice that they will respond to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recommending that the releases on the Pit River, above the Pit 1 Powerhouse, should be canceled this summer. Last year the USFWS sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the California State Water Resources Control Board recommending that the releases be canceled. In their letter the USFWS cite concerns of

American Whitewater is pleased to announce our May 2010 Volunteers of the Month: Chris Donochod, Justyn Thompson, Mark Mickey, Matt Kern, and Sid Border.   These five folks are the chief organizers behind French Broad River Fest in North Carolina each year. This event has been going on for over a decade and has grown from 300 people to 2,500. Each incarnation of FBRF since the first has had a focus on on the local French Broad river and also