California Rafting 2009: Latest Flow Info
Posted February 23, 2009 by MalinaSorry to say–because we know rafters near and far are dying to know– but it’s still too early to give you a
super accurate sense of what we’re looking at as far as snowpack and summer water flows for 2009 go. However, like you, we’ve been anxiously watching the skies and happily watching snow pile up in the Sierra over the course of the past few weekend’s storms. What we can tell you so far is this:
Last year was a “normal” year for the California snowpack, so reservoirs didn’t get as full as we might have liked. And so far, this winter hasn’t been super “wet.” So, the reality is we have some ground to make up this year. Thus far, we’re doing ok, but don’t anticipate this will be a high water year by any means. Instead, we anticipate solid water on dam-controlled rivers like the South and Middle Forks of the American Rivers and the Tuolumne. Lower run-off in the Tuolumne watershed means a longer season on Cherry Creek, so that’s great news for class V rafters. Spring run-off rivers will likely have shorter seasons.
The bottom line is that we have several more weeks of winter to build on the current snowpack, and what we know so far is that we will have plenty of water for rafting in California this season. As we get more information about the current snowpack and water content levels, we’ll let you know.