Dammed Rivers
My only experiences of rivers that have been dammed, was the
Bio Bio in Chile and the Stanislaus in California. The Stan I did
in California in 1981, during a controversial fight to save it. I
did the Bio Bio in the early days of this run in 1983 (perhaps
around the 10th to 15th descent), but even
then there was some talk abut it being dammed. I was saddened by
this fact, but it didn’t affect me much. When it got dammed, I
was very saddened, but also very glad I had had the opportunity to
see it before it got dammed.
Of course the most classic run that was destroyed by a dam was
Glen Canyon. I would love to meet someone who had rafted that
classic run of amazing beauty.
The most personal one to me, though not actually a river being
dammed (as Summersville Dam has been a benefit to rafters), was
the Gauley changing to hydro-electric power. Not much changed on
the river except the put-in. Of the thousands of guests I had
taken down rafting, the most memorable rapid/part of the trip, was
putting-in below the tubes of Summersville Dam. It was such a rush
to peel out into that froth of 2800 cfs water coming from the base
of the dam. The fall of 1999 was the last season of being able to
put in at the base. My paddling partner, Shari Coressel and I
decided to go big on the last day of Gauley season and double
duckie the river. I had duckied and canoed it a few times before,
but had always put-in a hundred yards downstream at the kayakers
put-in. Being the last day, ever, to be able to do the
mega-peel-out, we were not going to pass up this opportunity to go
big. I was sure we would swim, but we paddled as hard as we could
, as high into the froth as I had ever done before ( I have seen
many a swim here and being a huge eddy line, know this is a deep
swim), but somehow we came out upright. But as I paddled away, I
literally cried, knowing I could never do that peel out again. Now
a days you put-in downstream and most of the time the release is
underwater as the Army Corps of Engineers are generating power
through the new hydro unit.
Though this was not loosing a river, such as one when a dam
covers a section of river, it still had to be a similar sadness.
I must say that people still ask about the put-in and any
current guest that had done that peel out, still talks about that
put-in experience.
