I was at Tallulah Gorge with my nephew this weekend. This was a Whitewater Boating Weekend. So I took some pictures.


Notice the kayaker in the falls.


This was taken from the bridge. It looks different with the extra water. You might recognize this from the movie Deliverance.

Great photos. Water releases at the gorge are always impressive. Remember the flood from the hurricane in'93 ( or a few years ago anyway)? Georgia power was pulling an awesome amount of water over the dam then. For anyone who has not seen the water there will be a couple of asthetic releases around Sept. and another whitewater release in early Nov.

All the dates for 2003 are on the Tallulah Gorge Water Releases - 2003 Page. My nephew plans to be on the river in his Kayak this weekend Apr 12-13. Me I plan to be on the rim again.

One thing that caught my attention in the section about Aesthetic Water Releases is the sentence

quote:

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Call for guided hike availability

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Robert and I have hiked in the gorge with the water at the normal level. I wonder if the guided hike is in the gorge?

Great photos Allen. The kayaker gives the falls great perspective.

It's a shame we only get a few weekends like that out of the whole year. I was at one of them last year and took lots of pictures. Someone once told me that for the whitewater boaters to do their thing, someone (I guess the state government) has to actually reimburse Georgia Power for the power they could have generated during that time.

I try not to complain about things like this unless I have a solution, and I don't. I'm sure lawmakers thought long and hard about this ... or got paid a lot of money not to. In my mind, there's something seriously wrong with a power company owning an entire RIVER, to such an extent that they need to be PAID for days they don't get to use it. Ought to be the other way around.

Scott

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Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

They only release enough water for boating 5 weekends a year. However they do have several weekends of "Aesthetic Water Releases" including this weekend and the next serveral. See Tallulah Gorge Water Releases - 2003. I also thought I remembered that Georgia Power was paid for lost revenue. But I couldn't find confirmation of that.

Yes, I am pretty sure we the tax payer pay GA Power for the lost revenue.
When the debate over water releases was going on an enviromental impact study also noted that the power not generated by the water thru turbines would have to be generated at another power plant.(Specifically coal burning plants closer to Atlanta.)
It was a pretty hot topic with enough poeple for standing room only at the county courthouse during the public input meetings.

Well this page on the American White Water website says

quote:

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Donating water for recreational purposes is a common practice for other power companies. For example, in 1993 Georgia Power teamed with both paddlers and community members to create releases on the Tallulah River .... Georgia Power estimates a revenue loss on the Tallulah of $75,000 per 10-day season, It realized that whitewater releases were infinitely more valuable to the surrounding community than to the company, because for a multi-billion dollar corporation, $75,000 makes a very inconsequential impact on company economics.

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So it appears that Georgia Power eats the cost, or more likely pass it on to their customers like me, but not tax payers also me.

I like those photos Allen. I suspect I'll see them again on the 2004 GGA calendar.

~erik~

I took more, these are just what I thought were the best. I even have a MPG of a kayak going under the water there.

quote:

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Originally posted by ~erik~:
I like those photos Allen. I suspect I'll see them again on the 2004 GGA calendar.

~erik~

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I didn't order a calendar yet. Will there be one available for sale at the May meeting? Also, I'll need to pick up my CITO shirt at the meeting too, if that's OK.
(Really, really hoping I'll be able to make it this month )

Here are same areas with normal water flow.



When Robert and I hiked the gorge we went by Oceana where the kayaker was. As for why I don't have pictures that is a long story. Well actually it is a short embarrassing story. But it was a great hike that very few people do. The ranger and we talked about putting the combination and/or actual coords either on the bridge or on the something in the gorge if traffic to the cache got heavy.

I was actually one of the first to paddle Tallulah way back in 1993 when GA Power, the DNR and FERC conducted some test releases for relicensing. Oceana is a rush to say the least.

My (minor) claim to fame was naming a couple of rapids in the gorge, including "The Thing" in the middle of Oceana.

Having the experience of speaking in favor of the realeases, both recreational and aesthetic, in the Rabun County courthouse was intimidating to say the least. Those Lake Burton homeowners are a tough bunch!

In '94, we were asked back by the DNR to shoot some footage for the movie shown in the visitor center. Alas, I was edited out of the final cut.

I've got an account of the first descent of Tallulah on my web page. Seeing your pictures really brings back some good memories. Thanks.