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chris
Site Admin
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Posted: Jun 3, 2006 Post Subject: Middle Fork American Gauge Inacccuracies
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| Bill Deitchman - California State Parks - reports as follows regarding potential gauge reading inaccuracies for the Middle Fork American River below/at Oxbow Powerhouse:
"For the past few days, I have been receiving reports from Middle Fork Outfitters that the gauge readings from the internet for the Middle Fork American below Oxbow appear to be inaccurate. Most feel that when the cfs reading from the internet reads about 1600 the actual flow may be upwards or greater than 3,000. The outfitters who have reported trips to me have said that Tunnel Chute needed to be portaged as well as Ruck-a-chucky (with a carry). Some have also opted to portage many of the other Class IV & III rapids.
If you should be planning trips on the Middle Fork over the next couple of weeks, I would strongly advise you to speak with those who have already gone down recently to discuss the reported flows at that time and how it translated to actual flows on the river. Please use extreme caution.
The outfitters that I have spoken with who recently ran the river are: Adventure Connection; American River Recreation; American Whitewater Expeditions; and OARS.
I have contacted PCWA and they will likely have the gauge checked during the first two weeks of June. As soon as I hear from them the results of the test, I'll pass the information on to you.
Please pass this information on to anyone who you feel it might apply.
Thank you.
Happy and safe boating.
Bill Deitchman
Whitewater Program Manager
Auburn SRA, CA State Parks"
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mlibkind
Member
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| I'm trying to plan a trip to the Middle Fork of the American next Saturday with my daughter who is a beginner kayaker. The message posted on June 3 saying that the Oxbow gauge may be wrong (reading significantly low) concerns me because 3000 CFS is too much for her.
Has anyone gotten more recent information? I tried some raft companies with no success.
I look at the North Fork and it is down to normal flows. Of course it is not dammed. I'm thinking that the Middle Fork flows, which are normal for right about now, might be correct especially given that they are releasing 24 hours/day, not the normal afternoon only for this time of the season.
Cheers.
Marcus
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chris
Site Admin
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| Marcus,
Well, perhaps no-one knows for sure. I have no definite info. But, like you, I look at the graph, and the time of year, remember what the MF looked like last time I drove up Hwy-49, observe it's been ramping steadily downwards these past few weeks, see even Chili Bar has come way down, and my conclusion is that the flow probably is around 1100 right now. That's just my opinion, though.
There's another posting which talks about access:
http://www.dreamflows.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=75
You may want to check with the rafting companies about this too. Anyone know the current status?
Chris
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mlibkind
Member
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| Posted: Jul 1, 2006Post Subject: Gauge on Middle Fork is working fine
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| | Boated the Middle Fork of the American from Greenwood Bridge to Mammoth Bar. The actual flow matched the gauge flow of 1100 cfs. So the gauge is working fine.
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