The boating community needs your help in sustaining whitewater boating opportunities on the Green River in Northern Vermont.

 

Vermont has issued draft conditions for the relicensing of the hydropower project on the Green River that would drastically limit naturally occurring boatable flows and eliminate all opportunities for scheduled whitewater boating releases for the next 40-50 years. In its Draft Water Quality Certification for the Morrisville Project, DEC proposes to mandate flows that would eliminate 50 percent of naturally occurring boatable flows by flattening out the variable flows on the Green River. These flows would also damage the aquatic habitat in the reservoir and downstream from the dam in Morrisville. In addition, the Agency proposes to ban any scheduled boating releases without any showing of harm. Whitewater boating on the Green River is an existing use that the state is required to protect.

 

We need to take a stand now and let the state know that whitewater boating opportunities must be protected. There is a public hearing at 7 pm on February 16th in Morrisville.  This will be an opportunity for you to be heard, for the boaters to be heard.  We (the North East boating community) need you to take action via written comments.  The State of Vermont will be accepting written comments until February 19th. Send comments to Jeff Crocker (Jeff.Crocker@vermont.gov) "Comments on the Draft Water Quality Certification for the Morrisville Project, Green River Development, FERC Docket P­-2629" with a copy bob@americanwhitewater.org and mainer.michael@gmail.com. 

 

Every boater in New England has a good reason to submit comments. This particular license and outcome will set precedent for Vermont Water Quality Certifications going forward, not only for the Green. Submitting comment or speaking at the hearing is relatively easy and needs to be done! 

 

We've got a little over a week before the hearing and just under 2 weeks for the written comments to be submitted. Local boaters are on full court press here and are blanketing the boating community, but please pass this along to other folks you think would be interested in being involved, helping out or have something to say. 

 

Ultimately, this is our fight to lose, so we will need to fight it. The Green is just too good to just give away so help me in this effort!!!

 

Attached are instructions for submitting comments and some guidance on the points we are going bring front and center for the Agency of Natural Resources to chew on before they consider making the mistake of pulling whitewater releases from the License. Thank you and hope to see you on the 16th.