In my last post, I discussed, “How high is the water”? With that discussion, the various gauges used to determine the level on the New and Gauley Rivers were the focal point. When we have rain events, these gauges become our eyes to what is coming our way over the next few days.
As I write this, March 29, these gauges are all on the way up. Recent rains in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia have dropped a lot of rain in our watershed. It has rained for a couple of days now and all of the creeks and small streams have extra water. With this scenario, both the New and Gauley Rivers are at or above normal spring levels. This week Songer Whitewater has trips on the New River and if the water gets too high, we may take our trips to the Gauley River.
Today, Sunday, is normally a day off to do household chores, visit friends or watch the NASCAR race. This Sunday I watched the gauges all day to see what is going on with the rivers. (I did keep up with the race.) Using gauges from the Army Corps of Engineers, US Geological Survey and driving down to Fayette Station to look at New River, it is quite easy to see the river is cranking!!
These gauges are placed at strategic points on the New, Gauley, Greenbrier, Meadow and Bluestone Rivers and give you a sense of how high the water is and how fast it is going up. If you saw the first post, I talked about how we measure water in CFS (cubic feet per second). A cubic foot of water is about the size of a regulation basketball. Right now the New River is at 26,000 cfs. That translates to about 10 feet on the Fayette Station bridge. Yee Haw!!
For those of you who have rafted the New, Whale Rock goes under water at that level! So big waves and holes all along the river from Thurmond to Fayette Station. The Gauley is running 3700 cfs from Summersville Dam and over 7000 at Belva on the Lower section. This is well above our fall level of 2800 cfs. The Upper is too high for commercial trips with the combined flow from the Meadow River. Boy, the Lower is a blast at that level.
If you are thinking of rafting these spring levels, now is the time to call and save yourself a seat on one heck of a roller coaster.
Well, that about sums up my Sunday and how even on a day off, I am looking at “How high is the water?”.
During that time, I crossed and rode beside three major rivers and one of our largest lakes. How did I do that? Started in Fayetteville and blazed on some cool roads. Crossed New River twice, Meadow River once and then Gauley River twice. Even crossed Summersville Lake twice too! Cool huh?