[steven]

here it comes. i guess 3-4 days of flow. keep your fingers crossed...

 

[Gumbydamnit]

Memorial Weekend??? Fingers and toes are crossed!

 

[doloresgirl]

Looks like they are ramping up, then slow draw down over this weekend (though the current graph is heading downward a bit). Get on it if your gonna. Dolores Water Conservancy District
Detail Graph

 

[mania]

I might be heading to the put-in tonight (top section) for a two day bradfield to slickrock. anyone going? need shuttle help.

9 7 0 -7 5 9 - 8 2 7 2

 

[mountainfish]

What is lowest folks have run SNAG at in a raft? I have hit it at 1200cfs...pretty boney. I have heard under 1000cfs is highly unadvisable???

 

[Dump truck]

The inflows are slowing way down and my guess is we will see a full McPhee later then predicted.... spills this weekend???

 

[chiefton]

You can run it all much lower than 1000. I believe we ran it all around 5-600. "Highly unadvisable" seems like bad beta to me.

 

[mania]

I called and Ken said its a go for 600 in the morning and 800 by noon tomorrow (wednesday) and will run thru friday. they will post an update tomorrow (wed) about the weekend.

 

[mountainfish]

The Dolores River guide recomends a portage below 1000 cfs...but it is really Old. It also says that over 2000cfs Snag is a class V which I know is not the case....

 

[Ikedub]

I'm planning on setting a shuttle tomorrow night and running from pump house (Mtn. Sheep) on Thursday morning to the Colorado (Monday-Tuesday). The San Miguel will give a big bump if they drop before the weekend. I've got a definite crew on the end (bedrock to Colorado) but need to set shuttle...anyone else setting a shuttle near Moab?

 

[Ikedub]

Snag isn't a problem at 800cfs.

 

[Ikedub]

Well...McPhee is releasing again. It's at 1200 and climbing. Let's recap...approximately two weeks ago we weren't going to get a single day of spill. Now we have had about 8-9 days! It's a bad game of guess work down there.

 

[tallboy]

"The Dolores River continues to keep us on our toes, so there must be some north slope snow still up there"

uh, where is all this water coming from? maybe we'll release some more tomorrow, or maybe it will stop coming in, i don't know...lets just wait and see. unbelievable.

imagine that, with proper planning the region might be able to promote a little tourism but not with this type of management.

 

[Dump truck]

You don't make beans off tourism. It's simple math!

 

[steven]

look at the snowpack data, weather forecasts, lake level, etc., and set some damn release dates and stick to them!! if the predictions are off a little, you will still have water for the farmers, the mcphee power boaters, and the lower river habitat and boaters. still can't believe they took 99% of this river's water and destroyed one of the most amazing river canyons in the west. maybe in the future some release schedules can be negotiated. the status quo doesn't seem even close to fair. was the lower riparian habitat (nature, for god's sake!) even considered when this was all worked out? set a semi-regular release schedule and I'm sure the area would see some significant tourism dollars.
blah blah

 

[funrivers]

We need to get organized and sue the water conservation district or BOR for mismanagement of OUR resource. American Whitewater might be a good place to start getting ideas for action.

Waddaya think?

 

[FrankC]

They get it totally wrong every year. Any idiot would know that the vast majority of runoff comes from the high elevation snowpack that doesn't usually kick in until late May and June when we get a heat wave. Something needs to be done about this so people can actually plan a trip.

1. "The Dolores River continues to keep us on our toes, so there must be some north slope snow still up there"

uh, where is all this water coming from? maybe we'll release some more tomorrow, or maybe it will stop coming in, i don't know...lets just wait and see. unbelievable.

imagine that, with proper planning the region might be able to promote a little tourism but not with this type of management.

 

[rg5hole]

ultimately they could care less about boaters. period. the water is for irrigation, any extra is ours. I may also point that a 5 year old could have predicted at least 2 weeks of raftable LODO this year. I understand they have a liaison, some of you know him and he may be cool, but I see after reading and watching his posts and flow reports for the last few years that he is a puppet meant to smooth things over for the boaters.

and about tourism dollars...the locals charge $5 for parking, $75 (or more) for shuttles, gas in dove creek, slickrock, naturita, gateway, etc, food and beer at the 141, the list goes on. Nobody drives 500 miles and doesn't spend money along the way. I might add nobody goes to these places either so all this money is extra to these otherwise remote and desolate populations.

 

[Dump truck]

[

the locals charge $5 for parking, $75 (or more) for shuttles, gas in dove creek, slickrock, naturita, gateway, etc, food and beer at the 141, the list goes on. Nobody drives 500 miles and doesn't spend money along the way. I might add nobody goes to these places either so all this money is extra to these otherwise remote and desolate populations

. ]


Thanks for the math. Hopefully you don't have to be a bean counter to know the economic benefits of tourism. I was on the Bradfield to Slickrock section last weekend and there were a lot of open camps and not many cars at the take-out. This equals lost revenue for the common working folks who struggle to live in these areas. They should/could be the ones expressing concern over the huge mismanagement in the Dolores Water Conservancy District offices.

 

[Droboat]

You don't make beans off tourism. It's simple math!

Both ag and tourism, not to mention fish, got shorted in the deal. Dryland bean farmers, boaters, wildlife advocates, and fiscal conservatives opposed the expensive federal water bucket known as McPhee. Beans had low capital costs and were somewhat sustainable when mixed with some shuttle cash in May/June followed by some trout tourism the rest of the year, along with an array of activities which included the dryland tourism that still exists.

Regardless of the math, beans, boats, and fish didn't feed the perverse desire for the Water Buffaloes to hoard water in a useless bucket. Water welfare, federal Farm Bill payments, and a federally funded water bureaucracy run by local waterlords have largely replaced the scrappy economy that once defined the area.

Generally, CRSP dam managers may be likable enough to have a beer with and may give lip service to diversifying their dam projects, but they serve the petty pleasure of the water hoarding Buffaloes or they look for other work.