By Dave Willette
North Adams Transcript
5/7/2005

The Deerfield River serves many purposes to many people, and most of these users aren't aware they are ruining this beautiful waterway. The river has three major by-products: enjoyment, economic impact, and, of course, electricity generating power. Most recently, the sport of rafting and kayaking has developed on the Deerfield River. Due to the daily high water flows, these folks can enjoy their sport almost year round. Crab Apple Tours and Zoar Outdoors are two Charlemont-based companies that do a great business every year bringing people down the Deerfield River in either a rubber raft or a kayak. At the height of the summer season, both of these companies employ over 100 people.

This is quite an economic lift for downtown Charlemont and Shelburne Falls. It's not cheap to take a ride down the Deerfield and most of these outdoors people are well-healed spenders. The kind of tourist that North Adams would love to have, all summer. Twenty years ago, neither Zoar or Crab Apple were in existence.
The generating power of the Deerfield River has already been documented. Daily, thousands of kilowatts are produced there and sent somewhere else for use.

For the longest time, fishermen have enjoyed the Deerfield as one of the best trout streams in New England. I can remember Curt Gowdy of the television show "The American Sportsman" doing a segment on the Deerfield River in the early 1970s. That's how famous this river is to fisherman.

How are these groups linked to each other, and is it a good connection?

The answer is NO, and here's why. And it's the fishermen that are getting the short end of the stick, (again).
Water flow is measured in cubic feet per second (cfs). The minimal flow on the river is around 100 cfs. A good fishing flow for the fly-fishermen is between 200 and 500 cfs. Over this level the water is too high to control a fly line. From 500 to 1,000 cfs, the spin fishermen can still enjoy their sport, but they must be more careful as the river gets dangerously high.

Fishermen have enjoyed the Deerfield long before the power companies took hold, and for generations before the rafting companies landed there. We've gotten used to semi-natural flows on the river, as a result of the power companies since the 1930s. And we've lived with it. It was tolerable. The high flows weren't that high, nor did they last for days like they do now.

For the last five or six years, the flows on the river are far from semi-natural, its more like a daily, deluge flush of the river, and its very detrimental to the river and the rest of the ecosystem.

The statistics state that for the month of April the average flow was 1476 cfs. A very unnatural level of water for the whole month. In April, there was a brief, five-day maximum flow of 10,900 cfs. When I wrote this article, the current flow was 1,390 cfs. For comparison, the Hoosic is already at a low water flow.

Why is this happening now? Since the rafting companies were established, the river has been consistently up to support their business. Presently, they are guaranteed over 100 high-flow days a season. The fishermen get one guaranteed low flow day a season, and sometimes this gets canceled.

I'm not about to take a shot at the rafting companies, the river is big enough for both of us. The rafters need high water between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.. These are not prime time fishing hours. Why can't the power companies be a little more accommodating to the fishermen? And stop the high water flow at peak fishing times, at least on the weekends.

Tax dollars from all the hunting and fishing licenses pay for any and all improvements on the Deerfield River. All of the improvements for the past few years have all benefited the rafting companies, in the form of parking lots and boat ramps. Ironically, fishermen can't park in the parking lot that the fisherman's taxes paid for -- it's reserved for the rafting companies only. Maybe the rafting companies should pay their fair share, too.

The environment is also taking a bath here as well. Those continual flushes of this beautiful waterway are killing every bug on the river, as well as any small plant life. Nature just wasn't meant to take this kind of unnatural abuse. The erosion on parts of the river look like a bull dozer came through and re-arranged the boulders, while viscously under-cutting the river banks.

What can be done? Contact our local representative, Dan Bosley, who grew up on the Deerfield River. Let's get the power company to reimburse the state, or the river itself with erosion control remedies, a better high water release warning system, a cross river cable safety system for fishermen caught in high water, or perhaps even more fish stocked.

We should get something in return for the rape of this river.

See Ya....Out There
dwwillette@yahoo.com