The annual Hoosic River Whitewater Release into the Schaghticoke Gorge will be on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM.  American Whitewater and Adirondack Mountain Club negotiated these releases in the relicensing process for this hydropower project with Reliant Energy, and the project is now operated by Brookfield Power.  The Hoosic truly has something for everyone.  It has an impressive Class V upper section and a fun Class III lower section. Schaghticoke Gorge is in Schaghticoke, New York, about fifteen miles north of Troy.

Releases Depend on Inflow:  Brookfield is required to provide a whitewater release when inflow to the reservoir is between 800 and 1600 cfs.  All inflow between 800 and 1600 cfs will be passed into the Gorge.   If inflow is less than 800 cfs or over 1600 cfs, then the release will be postponed to the following Wednesday (and so on, until a release is provided).  Please check flows and this article before heading to the river! You can check the inflow via the Eagle Bridge Gage (see right gage box) on the Hoosic River (USGS 01334500).  The Eagle Bridge gage is a considerable distance upstream from the reservoir and consequently records a lower flow than is present downstream.  To correlate flows measured at Eagle Bridge with reservoir inflows multiply the Eagle Bridge reading by 1.254 to determine the approximate reservoir inflow.  The Eagle Bridge gage should read 640 cfs or more to trigger a whitewater release into Schaghticoke Gorge.  As the flow increases beyond the 800 cfs inflow the hydraulics in the upper section obviously get bigger.  The Whitewater Study Team boated flows up to 1600 cfs.  We will post updates on this article as we get closer to the release.

Please sign in:  Attendence is measured and will determine future releases.

Parking at the powerhouse take-out is limited to five vehicles. The objective of limited parking is to reduce traffic on the road to the powerhouse. The local landowners view the powerhouse road as a private road not open to the public.  American Whitewater and Adirondack Mountain Club negotiated an access plan that limited parking to five cars at the take-out.  Coordinate shuttles with other boaters. Overflow parking is available on Chestnut Street the road leading to the takeout.  Boaters need to be conscientious and respectful of the local landowners on this road. Drive 20 mph or less on the powerhouse road--speed limits in excess of this will jeopardize relations with these land-owners and potentially future releases.  Learn more about the access and the river by checking out a great Hoosic River Map.

Lastly, this whitewater release is the result of years of negotiations with Reliant Energy, formerly Niagara Mohawk.  These negotiations require significant time commitments of American Whitewater staff meeting with utility and resource agency staff, reviewing and commenting on technical documents to convince other stakeholders in the relicense process to support whitewater flows.  American Whitewater staff does this work on behalf of the paddling community - you and your paddling friends.  This work is payed for through membership dues and donations.  We thank those American Whitewater members that have helped make these Hoosic River Whitewater Releases a reality.  For those boaters that are not American Whitewater members please take the time now to support AW.  Your membership dues help us protect and restore whitewater rivers for your enjoyment.  Only you can make whitewater releases happen!