I'm heading to West Virginia this weekend with a crew. I would like to run Upper Gauley and hear it's creeky goodness at 400-600cfs. According to boatingbeta Upper Gauley is running at 680cfs but AW says 40cfs so not sure who to believe.

If anyone wants to run this or New River Dries if it's running call my cell and I'll be glad to meet you for a run.


Chris

502 - seven five ate - three 6 two four.

Chris, the AW gauge is calculated and not reliable. The move for understanding the flow on the Upper Gauley during off season is the gauge on the natural flow upper-upper Gauley (above the lake) @ Craigsville which is currently running 586cfs.

[waterdata.usgs.gov]

If Summersville lake has reached summer pool (it has) then you can expect them to release from the dam near the flow they have coming in from Craigsville. Huntington CoE page shows 654cfs coming out of the dam right now:

[www.lrh-wc.usace.army.mil]

As Craigsville drops so probably will the release from the dam. If there is no more rain then you can expect about 4-500cfs on the Upper Gauley (down to Lost Paddle) by Saturday. Add in another 150 cfs from the Meadow and you could be looking at 600cfs from LP down.

The Drys are not running. You need 10' in the New Gorge and there is currently running around 3.8' @ Fayette Station - a great level for the New Gorge:-)

[www.wvwa.net]

I've run the Upper Gauley as low as 800cfs and it is great fun at that level. I know folks run it lower so expect steep bony drops and big pools to prevail.
barryg

Actually, there is a better way to gauge the Upper Gauley release. The Gauge at Belva is below the takeout for the Lower Gauley and therefore several hours behind the Dam, but is still a pretty good indicator of what's going on. Subtract the flow of the meadow and you have the water on the Gauley. Since they're at summer pool with a decreasing flow coming into the lake, they will likely maintain a fairly steady slowly decreasing release.

The Belva gauge shows 1040 CFS right now and the Meadow gauge shows 277. The difference is 763. There are other tribs, like Peter's Creek, but they usually aren't of significant import unless there's a lot of rain and then the release from the dam is usually high anyway.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?03192000

I've run the Upper down to 200 and it's still a great day on the water. At 700+ you should have a fantastic time. Run Iron Ring multiple times, it's too easy to carry up and do again and it's one of the best rapids at this water level.

The diversion tunnel that makes the New River Dries dry holds 10,000 CFS, so whenever the New is over 10,000 there is water in the Dries. 5 feet on the new is 10,000, 5.5 feet makes a bony run on the Dries, but 6.5 or 7 feet translates to 4,000-6000 on the Dries and makes for a great run with some fantastic surfing waves and more gradient than the New River Gorge.

Have fun, the Gauley will be a hoot this weekend.

Hanley