Kolob Creek

[jstheman1]

Just got off the phone with the Washington County Water Conservancy District they are releasing 15cfs into Kolob creek until September.

[mrbrejcha]

That sucks, there go my plans.

[Alex]

Is that a lot for that canyon?

[CarpeyBiggs]

We were there Friday, it's all rubbish. There was 3cfs at the bridge, maybe 1cfs at the confluence of Oak. Kolob was BONE DRY well before the MIA exit. Plus, it's a major drought year. There is no way that reservoir has the water to release 15cfs every day for the next 3 months.

It is, however, a great plan to keep people out of that canyon.

[rockgremlin]

We were there Friday, it's all rubbish. There was 3cfs at the bridge, maybe 1cfs at the confluence of Oak. Kolob was BONE DRY well before the MIA exit. Plus, it's a major drought year. There is no way that reservoir has the water to release 15cfs every day for the next 3 months.

It is, however, a great plan to keep people out of that canyon.

Oh SNAP!!!

[CarpeyBiggs]

I should clarify, we were in Oak, not Kolob. I wouldn't condone the poaching of Canyons... That is, of course, unless it is obvious that the Park Service is lying to the public because they don't have the cojones to just shut the canyon down.

Hey, it works perfectly though. Just put the blame on the conservancy district, and no one will be the wiser, right?

[adrians]

I just spoke with them as well and they told me that Kolob will be running at 15 cfs until the END of September. Somehow that seems a little aggressive in a drought year as someone said earlier. HMMMM...Any additional beta from people doing Boundary or Goose?

[CarpeyBiggs]

I just spoke with them as well and they told me that Kolob will be running at 15 cfs until the END of September. Somehow that seems a little aggressive in a drought year as someone said earlier. HMMMM...Any additional beta from people doing Boundary or Goose?

Probably won't get much beta from people doing Goose, since it is closed as a research area, but boundary is super dry right now. Word is on Sunday there was significantly more flow, perhaps up to 10 or 15 cfs. I would imagine that the flow is going to fluctuate at their leisure.

[AJ]

Yeah, sometime last week, they upped the flow. I looked at it on Friday 6/22 (was going to do it on Sat 6/23) and it was between 10-15cfs. Wouldn't go into it with that flow...

Made the park aware of the vague info from the water folks. They are seeing what they can do (talked to Ray.) He doesn't think it will be much though, as they haven't gotten much cooperation from them before. Told him I was going to look into what we could do sideband, and he thought that was a good idea.

Problem is, thier charter is to provide water, not recreation...

If people have ideas on what to do from here, I'm all ears. I was thinking of finding who is in charge of the water folks, and make it known that they aren't reporting accurate numbers; causing us to not have access to a recreation opportunity. That's as far as I've gotten right now, as I just got back...

[rock_ski_cowboy]

The Zion Canyoneering Coalition is currently taking action on this apparent misrepresentation. Tom Jones, current chairman of the coalition, has written a strongly worded letter to the director of the Washington County Water Conservancy District, and will continue to take action until the matter is resolved.

One of the best things anyone can do that wants to protect our opportunities to do canyons in Zion National Park is support the ZCC, as they are at the forefront of every issue involving canyoneering in the park, including this one and the Park Draft Management Plan that is currently being reviewed. The coalition website is http://zioncanyoneering.org . You'll find their principles to be ones that benefit most everyone who canyoneers in Zion National Park, no matter your political views.

Join the coalition! Donate your lunch money (or more) and help protect our opportunities. Additionally, you'll get an occasional newsletter from ZCC keeping you up to date on the issues at hand.

I have no affiliation with them other than wholeheartedly agreeing with what they're doing and supporting the cause of canyoneering in Zion.

[Iceaxe]

I agree... supporting the Zion Canyoneering Coalition is a worthy cause.