it is happening!

From the WRRR page...Come out to join us on our 28th annual Green River clean-up this Sat May 4th. Sign-ups will start at KP or Headworks about 9 AM. After running the river and cleaning up trash, there will be a B-BQ at Flaming Geyser (we suggest a $5.00 donation - please).

Awesome, Jay! Thanks for confirming that. I was gonna check out the WRRR page next. See ya out there.

Well, it happened, all right.

What an awesome weekend to spend all day on the Green! Sure, I had to miss the Robe Race, but I made a little cash, tightened up the dynamics w/ some of my team mates, and got to see a lot of river peeps I adore.

Anyone know what the Green was actually running on saturday?
And Sunday? I was camping at Kanaskat Palmer where I had no cel service.

Funny how today the flow is boosted up to sweet rafting flows. Those DAM fu*kERS. Glad I didn't kill anyone with those boney flows.

Caveat: I know almost nothing about the background of kayaker/rafter interactions with the Corps and Howard Hanson dam staff over release levels.

But seeing the outflow higher last week, low for the cleanup, and back up today made me wonder whether dam operators think that low flows are safer, regardless of local groups communicating their concerns about the Nozzle hazard.

I have the impression that some KP park staff start thinking of the Gorge as "high" somewhere in the 2K range. I don't boat the Gorge anywhere near what most people on PP consider "high," and I've been warned/scolded by the KP rangers when the river was below 3K.

Media coverage of the recent Headworks fatality also mentioned high water (arguably more true for that reach). I think most news stories about river incidents characterize the water level as high whether it is or not, just because that communicates risk to the average reader.

Seems like if public safety concerns during the Green Cleanup affected the dam release, the typical perception about water level (lower = safer) might have outweighed what the Cleanup organizers probably wanted (better flow for rafts, covering the Nozzle sieve).

That, or HH release policy is just a big old black box.

Slickhorn... Do you know who was taking photos in there?  We went through pretty quick and didn't catch whether the photographers at the corner were with a company. I'd love to see whether they caught any shots of us.  Thx!

I knew I should have hit PM instead of REPLY...      It was a tan raft with yellow markings.  I think we went through just before Jed and his group of AA.

Edited by geomorph - 06 May 2013 at 2:30pm

(I posted a bit of blather better suited to another topic, hence editing)

And of course, the clean up never stops even if the official event is over. Here goes the ongoing strive to do our part. Pay it foreward, be the change we want to see in the world.

Edited by Mr.Grinch - 06 May 2013 at 8:29pm

While I totally agree that 1300cfs isn't ideal for rafts, you might consider that the ACE figures that you'll be able to "clean up" more effectively if the flows are on the lower side, say 1300cfs.  After all, the purpose of this past weekend was for "green river cleanup" and not for "green river ideal boating conditions".  With the assumption that, while lower isn't necessarily better for boating, it's better for cleaning the river, maybe they figure the hidden altruistic nature of boaters will come out and that they'll happily sacrifice one day of perfect boating to help better the environment in which they play.  IF 1300cfs isn't as effective for removing garbage from the river, then it's time for conversation.  This conversation should probably start with "Friends of the Green", as they've played a key roll in negotiating and organizing this annual event.  Another entity could be state parks - don't forget that a former long term ranger at Kanasket Palmer State Park (Dennis) was also a rafter, and regulary rafted the green at all levels, including lower levels.  He may very well had input into "ideal levels" for cleanup.  Also worth taking into consideration is that the Green River Clean Up isn't just the Green River GORGE Clean Up.While still on the subject, it's interesting to hear about commercial raft companies "taking advantage" of the known release.  Were they partaking in the clean-up, or just reaping the benefits?            

Edited by jalmquist - 07 May 2013 at 9:37am

Yay! Awesome, thanks!

The first shot I took after eddying out below Mercury... Think I just missed you. DOH!




Edited by JoesKayak - 07 May 2013 at 4:58pm