Upper Sultan
Printed From: ProfessorPaddle.com
Category: General
Forum Name: Whitewater Forum
Forum Discription: Open Discussion Forum. Whitewater related subjects only
URL: http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10380
Printed Date: 24 Jun 2025 at 2:42am
Topic: Upper Sultan
Posted By: huckin harms
Subject: Upper Sultan
Date Posted: 14 Jan 2011 at 7:13pm
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Spada resevoir is spilling over... probably be a chance to get on this Sunday.
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Replies:
Posted By: Fish
Date Posted: 14 Jan 2011 at 7:43pm
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Just saw that too. Lets watch it and see how it responds. I'd be into a Sunday rally for the Upper Sultan if we get the rain predicted :-)
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Posted By: arnobarno
Date Posted: 14 Jan 2011 at 9:46pm
Is it spilling? Maybe I'm not reading this correctly but it looks like it spills at 1450' according to AW. Here is a link to the current elevation of the reservoir:
http://www5.snopud.com/water/SnoPUDWaterDataPage.xml
Currently, it looks like water is coming in from the sides, driving the mid-run gauge higher. My super precise, somewhat accurate ;-) UW forecast shows most of the rain hitting very late Saturday night/early Sunday (see http://www.atmos.washington.edu/mm5rt/ - I like the 4km WRF-GFS western washington 1-hr model)
I'd like to run this for the first time and am looking forward to the guaranteed releases but I'm not sure this weekend is going to be a natural event (and personally, am time constrained on Sunday anyway).
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arn9schaeffer@gmail.com (remove 9 for my real email address)
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Posted By: kurle
Date Posted: 14 Jan 2011 at 9:51pm
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i've got my eye on that too. fingers crossed.
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Posted By: LisaF
Date Posted: 15 Jan 2011 at 8:07pm
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You guys better be ready to meet by around 7AM if you plan to do it. With the short days, the long hike in, and the possibility of landslides, it pays to start super-early.
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Posted By: Fish
Date Posted: 15 Jan 2011 at 8:18pm
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The rain is coming in too late, wont be enough for tomorrow. Probably a good thing though, now i can watch the Seahawks beat the bears, and then sneak an afternoon lap in on the Green :-)
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Posted By: chipmaney
Date Posted: 15 Jan 2011 at 9:03pm
recall there are scheduled releases on the sultan starting this year....
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sitting all alone on a mountain by a river that has no end
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Posted By: Fish
Date Posted: 15 Jan 2011 at 10:26pm
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True, but the license wont be approved until the Spring, and per the agreement a release wont happen until 90 days after the license has been issued, so we likely wont see a scheduled release until late this Summer...
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Posted By: huckin harms
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2011 at 7:44am
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Ideally, wouldn't be puttin in at the spada res. Rather use the road that goes into the diversion dam. Not sure if that road is open but if it were that would be the best and easiest access for the most quality stretch.
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Posted By: LisaF
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2011 at 7:55am
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As I recall, the releases (if and when they happen) would be late fall or winter. Wouldn't it be nice if they thought like boaters and did it in summer?
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Posted By: TastyWaves
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2011 at 8:19am
I'm game and stayed in index last night, figuring out plans now
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Wise men say forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza.
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Posted By: chipmaney
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2011 at 10:31am
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Originally posted by IndexRivergirl
As I recall, the releases (if and when they happen) would be late fall or winter. Wouldn't it be nice if they thought like boaters and did it in summer?
hmmm, i've read the agreement a while back and didn't notice this information, since i recall wondering how they would decide when the releases would be....if BOTH releases are in the fall/winter, yeah, that would be sucky....
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sitting all alone on a mountain by a river that has no end
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Posted By: arnobarno
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2011 at 12:34pm
I've read through the flow study (which is extremely helpful to understanding what is happening). I thought I understood how the pieces and gauges fit together but now I'm not so sure. I'm using actual data as of about Noon today just to help my understanding with an example. Hopefully, someone can elaborate.
Spada reservoir will spill when the level gets above 1450'. Currently, it is about 10' below that level though has come up 10' in the past two days. There is no gauge below the reservoir.
There is a put-in somewhat downstream of the reservoir at river mile 15.7.
Midway through the run at RM 9.7, there is a diversion dam (that Mike references above). There is a gauge here - or really two gauges. One is the "downstream" transducer. Currently, it measures 569. There is also a "discharge" - currently at 800. How do you interpret these numbers? AW says to look at the downstream transducer. What does the other number represent?
Okay, sometime later you get to the Lower run (RM 4.3) - currently at 2600 cfs. AW flow study says that the maximum flow out of the powerhouse is 1400 which would imply that 1200 cfs (or more) is flowing from the Upper Sultan.
My interpretation of these numbers is that at RM 15.7 we have an undefined flow. Water if flowing in the sides until we get to RM 9.7 (Mike's put-in). At this point, how much water is in the river (ideally, just upstream and downstream of the transducer)? Then, we continue paddling downstream, water is continuing to come in from side creeks and just above the put-in for the Lower run, we have at least 1200 cfs. Just after the put-in, we have 2600 cfs.
Comments?
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arn9schaeffer@gmail.com (remove 9 for my real email address)
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Posted By: Kiwi
Date Posted: 17 Jan 2011 at 2:41am
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if they took out the dam the flow prediction would be so much easier!
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Posted By: huckin harms
Date Posted: 17 Jan 2011 at 7:59am
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Arno ... you raised some good questions but I got no answers.
In 2005 the put in had 670cfs with over 2k on the lower. We did it again a couple years back but don't recall #s. Lots of wood and the most quality drops were below the diversion which cuts out the hike in at Spada and scrapey flows at top. But the gate for the road to access diversion dam is likely closed so either way it would be a hike of sorts, ~2.5m?.
Currently the upper flow dropped back down to 200cfs. Looking forward to those releases whenever they happen.....
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Posted By: arnobarno
Date Posted: 17 Jan 2011 at 8:51am
Thanks for the additional info, Mike.
It does indeed look like Spada should spill. The elevation of the water behind the dam is 4' below the spill level, 2" of rain has fallen in the past six hours, and the level in the dam is raising half a foot an hour. By late afternoon it should be spilling though maybe not for long as the rains will be subsiding. Interesting to watch...
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arn9schaeffer@gmail.com (remove 9 for my real email address)
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Posted By: BRoss
Date Posted: 30 Oct 2011 at 10:30pm
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Originally posted by IndexRivergirl
As I recall, the releases (if and when they happen) would be late fall or winter. Wouldn't it be nice if they thought like boaters and did it in summer?
As it is now Fall, does anyone have any fresh beta about the Sultan "releases"?
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"That boated a lot better than it looked." "It always does until it doesn't."
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Posted By: huckin harms
Date Posted: 31 Oct 2011 at 9:02am
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last I heard was 2013 for scheduled releases... still a long ways off
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