The All-Outdoors Whitewater Rafting California River Blog

Friends of the River’s largest fundraising event of the year, the California River Awards is coming up in October.  We’re one of the event’s sponsors and are looking forward to an evening of tasty wine, food, good conversation and the opportunity to tell Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard how much we love his fleece jackets.  He, along with California Treasurer Bill Lockyear, will be honored at this year’s event.  If you want to support FOR’s good works and have a fantastic evening to boot, get a ticket soon and set aside some money for the evening’s auction.  The event will be held in San Francisco on October 24th at the Presidio’s Officers club.  Tickets and event details available on the FOR website.

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As you float down the South Fork, you notice the whitewater, the rocks, the sunbathers on the beach…but hopefully you also notice the broader beauty of the canyon.  The families of wild ducks, tawny deer, soaring vultures, chattering chickadees.  The hillsides of the Coloma-Lotus Valley rise low and wide above the South Fork, dotted with majestic oak trees and carpeted in golden grass–the classic scenery of the Gold Rush, cattle drives, and rural Northern California.  The reason these hills still exist in their wild form–or at least a significant part of the reason–is due to the efforts of the American River Conservancy.  This local organiziation (they’re based in an historic building in Coloma) works hard all year long to preserve open space in this area, balancing the need for wilderness and nature, and human recreation. 

For instance, if you’ve rafted the Lower section of the South Fork American River, you might have eaten lunch at Cronan Ranch.  This property was a part of the original Bacchi family ranch holdings.  The Conservancy bought a 1414 acre parcel of it, which is now administered by the BLM.  Rafters like us aren’t the only beneficiaries–hikers, walkers, and horse-riders also get to use its 12 miles of trails for recreational use.

Another big-profile purchase was over 200 acres on Mt. Murphy.  Rising above the State Park in Coloma, and easily visable from many places in the valley and by rafters on the Upper section of the South Fork, Mt. Murphy is one of the major landmarks for our community.  The ARC’s purchase ensures that in the future we will all continue to enjoy the spectacular spring poppies on the Mt’s river-facing slopes without having to look past the glare of yet another housing or retail development.

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Once again the American River Conservancy’s annual fundraising event was a smashing sucess.  The day began with talks, seminars, and demonstrations for river guides and community members.  Highlights included a talk by Mark Dubois, the legendary conservationist who chained himself to a rock to try and save the Stanislaus River in the early 1970s.  The failure of that effort led to the creation of Friends of the River, an organization that works to protect and preserve river canyons and riparian environments.  All-Outdoors actually started out on the Stanislaus when we were just a baby company getting into the commercial side of whitewater rafting, so Mark’s efforts are particularly meaningful to us.  Our guides also really loved (more…)

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Has Arnold smoked too many of his famous cigars or does he have an inside scoop that we missed out on?  Because we’ve been telling ourselves–and you, Dear Reader–for months that this is really a very standard year, nothing to write home about, perfectly and wonderfully normal.  So now what?  Did we spend a little too much time in the sun and lost our minds for a moment? 

To unravel the mystery, we did some investigative reportage.  And by “we” of course I mean Gregg Armstrong, because he is In The Know.  After telling me to relax and get that look of panic off my face, here’s what he told me:

First of all, there isn’t an official definition of “drought” in California.  It’s sort of a “you know a drought when you see one” sort of thing, and for most people who decide these things, when water levels in California reservoirs begin to approach 70% of their capacity, it starts lookin’ “droughtish.”  Now you and I both know that we had close to 100% normal snowpack this year, so the obvious question is why our reservoirs are so low.  To find the answer we need to take a look backward to 2007.

In 2007, we had a pretty dry winter, leaving reservoirs fairly low, and the ground quite dry.  That meant that this year, the ground soaked up close to 20% of the run-off and the winter precipitation.  This is important for ground table levels, but it leaves less water to replenish depleted reservoir stocks. 

If 2008 had been a very wet year, we could have made up the difference and our water storage facilities would have a lot more water–but we needed the 2008 snowpack to have reached 130-140% of normal in order to do that.  Not only was the snowpack an average of 100%, but March and April of this year were the driest on record.  Ouch.  As it stands, water officials predict that by the end of the summer, our reservoirs will be at around 70% capacity–the magic “drought” number.

Before you panic, here’s the good news.  First of all, our dam-controlled rivers absolutely have the water they need for an excellent season.  You can count on American River Rafting, the Tuolumne, and Cherry Creek all summer long.  This means your summer whitewater plans can continue unimpeded.  It also means we should all work on conserving water where we can so that we leave our reservoirs in the best shape we can for next winter.   So let your car get dusty, plant native drought-resistant species in your yard this summer, and turn off the faucet when you brush!!

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Those who have been lucky enough to experience the solitude and scenic beauty of the Tuolumne realize the significance of the Wild and Scenic designation this river received twenty-four years ago in 1984. At times, you feel like the only people in the canyon while navigating its magnificent waters. Rafting the Tuolumne on a multi-day trip can present the opportunity to explore the Clavey river and to revel in its warm, granite pools.

One of three entirely free flowing rivers left in the Western Sierra, this tributary is home to spawning wild trout and has been recommended for Federal Wild and Scenic designation to ensure that it remains in its natural state. It boasts thousands of acres of mature forest and the largest stand of quaking aspen in the Southern Sierra. On top of all these precious features, this watershed also supports many at risk species of both plants and animals.

The Tuolumne River Trust is collecting letters to send to Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congressman George Radanovich to urge them to place the Clavey under this protected status. For more information or to share your experience on the Clavey follow this link to the Trust homepage.

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I just learned about a Congressional bill that has been introduced to protect 17,000 acres of riparian environment along the Sacramento River near Redding.  The area includes Salmon fisheries, Blue Oak trees, and many species of birds including the Bald Eagle (hey–if you can’t find space in this great country for our national bird what have things come to?!).  Two creeks–Battle and Paynes–that flow into this area of the Sacramento River are up for possible “Wild and Scenic Status,” and would be included in the protected area.  California already has several designated “Wild and Scenic” status rivers, and if you’ve ever rafted the Tuolumne or Merced River  canyons you know how wonderful it is to have these special areas set aside for both nature and recreation.

(Above:  A quiet morning on the Tuolumne River  gives us a chance to relax and hang out with friends in a protected nature area……)   (more…)

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Scott Armstrong is doing a radio interview with local radio station KFOK 95.1 FM on March 8th at 9pm. Along with other guests he’ll be discussing topics like how recreational industries like whitewater rafting companies in California can “go green.” What “going green” actually means can be difficult to assess–for us, it means combining a respect for the planet, finite resources, and wilderness with an ethical and sustainable business model. Or goal is to balance our bottom line with a strong commitment to both our community and nature–we depend on both equally in order to stay in business.

All-Outdoors whitewater rafting has a long history of making efforts to conserve natural resources and protect wilderess. This long-standing tradition was started by our founder, George Armstrong, who pioneered conservation efforts in the Bay Area when he was a high school teacher in the 1960s and 70s. Scott will talk about the standard his father set and his long-lasting legacy on the 8th.

If these issues interest you, tune in to our local community radio station KFOK 95.1 FM on March 8th and hear AO owner Scott A’s take on balancing these issues on California’s many whitewater river canyons.

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After a brief hiatus, river conservation and advocate group Friends of the River (FOR) is bringing back the California Rivers Festival.

This FREE event is great way to contact other whitewater enthusiasts, meet the Pros, swap gear, and learn about what’s going on in the California whitewater scene in 2008.  Highlights of the event include a swap meet for gear, films and seminars, a raffle and silent auction and a BBQ dinner and live entertainment at the end of the day.

The California Rivers Festival is March 15, 2008.  Drop off for the gear swap meet starts at 8:00 am and the raffle/auction starts at 5pm.  Come for as much or as little as you like!

Location: Waldorf School. 3750 Bannister Road, Fair (more…)

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President Bush just signed a budget proposal that included a seven million dollar study of the possible removal of O’Shaughnessy Dam and restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley, through which used to flow the headwaters of the Toulumne River. Although the proposal may seem a bit inconsistent with some of Bush’s prior policies, it is a welcome and incredibly significant development in environmental politics. The restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley would be the first major federal testament to the fact that perhaps some of the many dams that were built across the West were in fact a bit superfluous and are now dispensable. It would symbolize a shift in thinking, a drive towards finding alternatives and thinking more about conservation rather than finding new ways to keep taking more and more from our natural environment. It would be a powerful precedent and reference point for future conservation battles over other rivers, including the one currently ongoing over the American River and Auburn Dam. Whatever it is that is motivating our president towards this particular environmental cause, I’m all for it. Let’s hope our Congress agrees! For more details and perhaps a bit less opinion, check out this article from the Union Democrat:

Bush budget encourages Restore Hetch Hetchy group

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Last year, Doolittle decided to use (ahem…waste..ahem) 1 billion taxpayer dollars for yet another study on the proposed Auburn Dam. A dam which, if built, would drown miles of the Middle and North Forks of the American River. And for the purpose of what? Water rights that don’t exist? Power that can be achieved at a much lower cost? And of course, the supposedly needed extra flood protection which isn’t worth a darn without improvements to Folsom first anyway, and which would protect against an amount of water not likely to ever be produced by the American River (For more background information please read previous posts about the Auburn Dam, or visit www.auburndamwatch.org.) For those of us who have seen through all this faulty reasoning for some time now and have viewed the proposal as both a waste of money and a waste of two invaluable river canyons, the results of Doolittle’s cost study are sweet redemption. The dam has been estimated to cost between six and ten times the original amount that is often cited by dam supporters, ringing in at an outrageous 6 to 10 billion dollars. As a mature and fiscally responsible citizen, a fan of sensical government planning and a steward of California’s beautiful river canyons, I have only this to say about the estimates: “Naa na na naa na!” Doolittle and the Auburn Dam Authority will be hard-pressed to prove that the benefits from such a dam could ever outweigh such high costs. And he was the one to order the study in the first place! It’s beautiful really.

To read the results for yourself, download the study from this website:
http://www.usbr.gov/mp/ccao/docs/auburn_rpt/index.html.

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