7/01/2004
Borel Flow Study and Background
Overview
As some of you may have already heard, the Kern River watermaster has agreed
to provide flows to complete the Borel whitewater study this July 9th and 10th,
a Friday and Saturday. We will be boating 1,200 cfs on Friday and 400 cfs on
Saturday. For those calibrated to total outflow from Isabella Lake, flows below
the powerhouse will be about 1,350 cfs on Friday (1,200 cfs in the river and
150 cfs in Borel Canal) and about 1,000 cfs on Saturday (400 in the river and
600 cfs in Borel Canal).
We are hoping to have commercial guides and private boaters run the reach with
us on both days, and then complete surveys and discuss their evaluations in a
short meeting after the runs. We are particularly interested in having people
who boated last year's 800 cfs flow (about 1400 cfs below the powerhouse) join
us again.
Because flows are only guaranteed from 7 am until 2 pm, we plan to meet at Sandy
Flat (the take-out) at 8 am on both days to do the study. From Sandy Flat, we
will shuttle upstream, run the river, and hope to be back at Sandy Flat for a
late lunch. On Friday we will run from the Main Dam to Sandy Flat. On Saturday
we will run from Keyesville Bridge to Sandy Flat. If you agree to participate
on both days, we will provide shuttles and lunches.
We apologize for the short notice of the study (and the early meeting times),
but negotiations for the flows were only recently completed and this is our only
opportunity to complete the study this year.
If you want to participate, please RSVP Doug Whittaker by email or phone before
Tuesday July 6th. : dougwhit@alaska.net (907) 346 - 3769
When you RSVP, please include the following information....
Your name
Email address
Phone number(s)
Type of boat (or if you are interested in space on a raft)
Food issues (e.g., if you are a vegetarian)
More information about the study, flows issues, and trip logistics are given
below
The Study
The Borel bypass reach (also known as the Picto or Jungle run) is affected by
SCE's Borel Powerhouse operations, which are undergoing review as part of a FERC
relicensing process. SCE has filed to continue operating this hydroelectric
facility and has been conducting a series of studies aimed at understanding potential
impacts of the Project, as well as developing protection, mitigation, or enhancements
(PME's) that might be used to address those impacts. As part of that process,
SCE agreed to collect information about acceptable and optimal flow levels for
different types of whitewater boating in the Borel Bypass reach. Confluence
Research and Consulting (Bo Shelby and Doug Whittaker) have been contracted to
conduct the study.
The study plan developed by SCE, agencies, and stakeholders such as American
Whitewater and the Kern commercial outfitters called for evaluations of 400 cfs,
800 cfs, 1,200 cfs, and 1,600 cfs (the equivalent releases from Lake Isabella
-- the flow below the powerhouse and the Miracle to Democrat reach -- are 1,000
cfs, 1,400 cfs, 1,800 cfs and 2,200 cfs). We boated 780 cfs last July, but other
study flows were cancelled when augmented flows became unavailable (see flow
issues below). Through this winter and early summer, SCE has had numerous discussions
with the watermaster and other agencies about securing study flows; this ultimately
led to these planned July releases. Although there was insufficient snowpack
and Lake Isabella storage this year to evaluate 1,600 cfs (2,200 cfs below the
powerhouse), "augmented" flows in the bypass reach will allow us to see 1,200
cfs. The 400 cfs flow will be provided by releasing slightly less than the planned
amount for Saturday, allowing the study to be completed on back-to-back days.
The study protocol is for boaters to complete pre-study surveys about their boating
experience, run the river, complete a "post-run evaluation," and participate
in a discussion with other boaters about the advantages and disadvantages of
that flow. On the next day, they run a second flow, fill out a second "post-run
evaluation," and complete a "close-out survey" that asks about other flows they
may have boated. This is followed by a second group discussion. The study methods
are similar to those used on several other FERC relicensing projects in California
and Oregon (e.g., North Umpqua, Upper Klamath, Upper North Fork Feather, Pit
River).
If you have questions about the study, please email or give Doug Whittaker a
call. Questions about the FERC process should be directed to Candace Irelan
at SCE Hydro Relicensing. Her phone is (909) 394-8714 and her email is Candace.Irelan@sce.com.
Flow Issues
Some of you may be familiar with the issues surrounding "augmented" flows in
the Bypass Reach, and why last year's study flows were cancelled. This is a
complex set of issues -- some of which remain unresolved -- and we don't have
sufficient room in this letter to address them in detail. In general, there
are concerns that changing the amount of flow between the Bypass Reach and the
Canal has impacts on water delivery to downstream users (mostly farmers with
senior water rights). The watermaster in charge of administering these water
rights has agreed to provide flows for the study, but remains opposed to augmented
flows for whitewater as a component of the SCE license. In exchange for these
study flows, SCE is providing the watermaster some additional storage in Lake
Isabella at a reduced rate next year. We hope to have agency and SCE staff participate
in the study, and some of them may be able to provide additional information
about these flow issues.
We recognize that study flows will alter the flows that might otherwise be provided
on these two days. Many boaters will probably be pleased to have 1,200 cfs in
the Bypass Reach on Friday (about 1,350 cfs below the powerhouse). Without the
study, the Bypass Reach would have been about 650 cfs (about 1,250 cfs below
the powerhouse).
However, some boaters will probably be disappointed with 400 cfs in the Bypass
Reach on Saturday (with about 1,000 cfs below the powerhouse). Without the study,
flows in the Bypass were scheduled to be about 550 cfs (with about 1,150 cfs
below the powerhouse). Nonetheless, it is important to evaluate the 400 cfs
flow, which some commercial outfitters have identified as the minimum needed
to raft from Keyesville Bridge, and which as been proposed as a minimum in SCE's
license. Based on information from last year's study, outfitters would not run
the section from Main Dam to Keyesville Bridge on Saturday even if 550 cfs were
available, so we hope the study will not affect outfitter's logistics.
Finally, we do not know what the flows will be after 2 pm on either day. If
we get estimates from the watermaster, we will pass them on.
Other Study Logistics
We are working with the outfitters to provide shuttles and lunches on the study
days. Unfortunately it is the busy season on the Kern and with such short notice
we don't have all the details worked out. Last year we were able to handle all
25 participants with a single "cattle car" shuttle and it worked great. We expect
slightly higher participation this year (particularly on Friday), so we may try
to get a second bus. The number of people participating is obviously crucial,
so please RSVP if you want to be part of the study. It is important that people
who participate do so on both days.
If you are an outfitter or guide, we are asking that you communicate with each
other about participating. Our goal would be to have at least one guide from
each company be part of a team that goes down the river in a raft, although more
rafts or guides is okay as long as we can plan for it ahead of time. We recognize
that these dates are likely to be during a busy part of the year, but we hope
that at least a few of you can participate.
If you are bringing your own boat, be ready to load it efficiently onto a trailer
down at Sandy Flat, and have your other gear (paddle, helmet, spray skirt, etc.)
ready to go. There will be a time crunch in the morning as we try to get 25
to 30 participants on the river to take advantage of the provided flows. We
will also be heading out from he take-out as soon as we can after 8 am. We realize
this is early, but please try to be on time.
It is particularly crucial that you RSVP if you want to participate by riding
on a raft (you aren't bringing your own boat). We hope to hire an outfitter
to run a boat for these folks (mostly agency staff), but obviously we need to
know how many there will be.
We are particularly interested in having people who participated last year join
us again. A list of last year's boaters is given below (apologies if I got the
spelling wrong)
Harry Willamson inflatable
Marjorie Carroll kayak
Jeff Dale kayak
Mike Edmonson kayak
Katherine Edmonson kayak
Connie Hearn kayak
Rosa Knight kayak
Brandon Loudermilk kayak
Ashley Mullen kayak
Byron Olson kayak
Bruce Ray kayak
Kris Schmidt kayak
Terry Valle kayak
Alex Chong kayak
Doug Rossback kayak
Brian Cosgrove oc1
Kambie? Amdjadi? raft
Susan Brown raft
Aimee Olson raft
Sue Porter raft
Marc Ryan raft
Heather Tork raft
Ellen Wahle raft
There may be some times during the study when we will have to "hurry up and wait."
We will have a photography crew at several locations to document how rapids
work, and they need some time to get from one to the other. Our experience from
last year suggests we will have to pull over between Wallow Rock and the bridges
to give them time to set-up. Hopefully we can find a big enough eddy or other
stopping place to make this "downtime" acceptable.
If you have special food requests (you don't eat cold cuts or cheese sandwiches),
please let us know when you RSVP.
Last year we had lunch first and then ran the river. This year the flow schedule
requires the reverse. Make sure you have had a good breakfast or bring some
snacks for the river, as we might not be to the take-out until 1 or 2 pm. We
will have some powerbars around to help people hold on until lunch, but you never
know how quick those might be used up...
We'll also have drinks with lunch, but you'll need water on the river. Expect
very hot weather and please bring enough to avoid dehydration. Sun screen is
also important.
We have tried to find hotel rooms in the area for Thursday and Friday night --
looks like the place is booked on Friday and probably Saturday. Our plan is
to try and camp at Sandy Flat or somewhere else nearby. Just thought we would
pass that information on for those of you without other lodging options.
Most of you are familiar with the run. It is generally Class III in difficulty,
and we don't expect that to change at the two study flows. However, 400 cfs
may be rocky, while 1,200 cfs will probably have stronger hydraulics than we
observed last year at 780 cfs. Please evaluate your skill level when deciding
whether to participate or when choosing your boat. We plan on running from Main
Dam on Friday, which includes the short "gorge" just above Slippery Rock with
slightly more difficult rapids than the rest of the run. If you don't want to
run this section, we can probably arrange to meet you at Slippery Rock.
That's all the information we have at the moment Thanks for your interest in,
and help with, this project. Let us know if you plan to participate.
Best regards,
Doug Whittaker and Bo Shelby
Doug Whittaker, Ph.D.
Confluence Research and Consulting
6324 Red Tree Circle
Anchorage, Alaska 99507 USA
(907) 346 - 3769
dougwhit@alaska.net