American Whitewater received notice from GA Power that spring Tallulah releases are not likely to occur in the first two weekends of April. Here is part of the GA Power email:

"The estimate to complete the repairs is approximately 9 weeks out from now, which is roughly late April. Due to this timeframe, we discussed our options to address the whitewater events that are scheduled to occur on the first two weekends of April. In lieu of cancellation, the consensus was to conduct the weekend whitewater releases at the time of the last two spring aesthetic releases. This proposal would mean the whitewater releases would be scheduled for May 14-15 and May 21-22."

AW is working closely with GA Power to reschedule these release. While they seem likely, they are not guaranteed at this time and require:

a) completion of project work to repair the dams gates (remember this is a structure that is close to 100 years old)

b) successful federal inspection of completed dam repair work

c) approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reschedule spring releases.

Additional web posts will be made here as more information becomes available.

Background: Back in late August 2010, heavy rainfall occurred in Northeast Georgia that resulted in the lake at the head of Tallulah Gorge reaching an elevation at which water was flowing over several dam gates. One of the gates broke in this event, fall releases were then cancelled and the dam gates underwent repairs.