At present, the FERC record as settled by AW in 2002 shows 700 cfs to be the minimum acceptable flow for kayaks and 1,400 cfs for rafts on the NF Kern. We believe these numbers are wildly inflated in Edison’s advantage, as it uses them to argue that its project does not negatively affect whitewater boating when inflows drop below those figures — i.e., most of the time. We know that’s false: flows of 350 to 500 are glorious, and remain enjoyable much, much lower; even the young hotshots come out and boat at 200 when the project goes offline. Now, no one is arguing that paddling at these acceptably low to low-moderate levels is preferable to higher flows, and KRB has gone on record repeatedly in this proceeding to make that point. However, to capture the full cost of the project to our community — and to offer the hope that Southern Californians have a place to boat in the shoulder seasons and in low water years — these lower flows need to be deemed minimally acceptable to FERC. Otherwise, Edison will be let off the hook again and days like those in this film will be lost for the next 40 years:
The bottom line is there’s a lot at stake when it comes to setting the minimum acceptable flow for our river. Please be sure about “how low you can go” when answering survey questions — or simply note that you are unsure and/or would like the chance to boat at lower flows before answering. Note finally, Edison will argue that Rec flows should only occur when the entire river is usable. So as a practical matter, only the river segment for which you give your highest “minimum acceptable flow” answer would count. We do not want to see these valuable flows — which are critical for shoulder seasons and lower water years in particular — left off the table before we get started.