Piscataquis -- What will the level be like?

[Ray Wirth]

The Piscataquis gage in Dover-Foxcroft is now below 2.5 feet which seems to be about as low as that river gets. Several days of showers are expected this week, which could help bring the level up a bit for next Saturday's race. Has anyone run the river at this level? Can it be run at this level?

[ben]

Any info on this as we approach race day? Trying to figure out what boat to bring and if I am going to need to wear my running shoes.

[Ray Wirth]

Race director Brian Woodworth emailed me to say that they received a "major rainfall" yesterday and added,"The river is up some today. Another major rain predicted today so the river could be decent on Saturday. Suggest you bring a canoe capable of some rocks though." The river gage at Dover-Foxcroft shows the level has gone up more than a foot and is now (as of Thursday evening) close to 4 feet after being under 2.5 feet in recent days. I'll be watching the river gage right up until Saturday morning, I guess.

[cdalton]

Whoever was doing the rain dance, good job! The river is still lower than the median on the stream gauge, but it's rising sharply. However, even if we're normal for late May that's a lot less than normal for April. Race day last year was ~12000cfs.

Ben, you're one point behind Ray in the series. No pressure!

[ben]

Let's both show up in OldTown Loon 138s and settle this thing!

Perhaps I should have posted this in the underutilized "Smack Talk" forum.

Ray, I kid of course. I look forward to seeing you in your Swallow which I assume was named after the action your opponents take with their pride when they attempt to challenge it.

[cdalton]

Looks like the river just peaked at about 5000cfs (~5.1 ft). I imagine it will fall to 4000 or so by race time. Enough to float a Swallow?

[Dan Baunert]

Don't know what gage your are looking at but the USGS gage at Dover that I currently looked at shows 1,240 CFS just above 4.0 ft. depth. Mean flow for May 29 is 488 cfs so current flow is still significantly above mean flow. The river is currently above mean flow for the first time since the end of April so we were lucky getting the timely rains the past few days. Water level is dropping fast but should still be around the 4 ft. range which is a foot or so higher than it normally would be at this time. Should be good water for the race.

[cdalton]

Ooops, I was looking at the Piscataquis in Medford. There's, uh, more water downstream...

So, for the correct station, the comparison with last year's race day (4/26/2014) is 3000cfs/5.9 ft.