Drought takes its toll on Columbus whitewater rafting course
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — The ongoing drought in Georgia has taken a toll on whitewater rafting on the Chattahoochee River.
When the Chattahoochee River water flow slowed under drought-like conditions this summer, so did the rafting business, said Dan Gilbert, owner of Whitewater Express.
Several times this summer, rafting trips had to be called off, Gilbert told The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported (http://bit.ly/2fmiVob).
"A lot of times, we would have a full high-water trip scheduled and have to cancel it because we did not have the water," Gilbert said. "That happened time and again."
Numbers of rafters "were way up in March, April, May and early June," Gilbert said.
"But then the drought hit us hard" he said.
The high water returned in late October, when the U.S. Corps of Engineers began sending more water downriver from West Point Lake, Gilbert said.
"We didn't know it was coming, it just started one day," Gilbert said. "We have been talking to the Corps about getting advance notice."
If that happens, Gilbert would like to plan an outdoor event around it, similar to what happens in Summersville, W.Va., when the Gauley River is at high flow.
"We would love to have something similar to the Gauley Fest, and we have expressed that interest with the Corps of Engineers," Gilbert said.
The 2.5-mile urban whitewater course in Columbus opened on Memorial Day weekend in 2013, and is managed by Uptown Whitewater Management LLC. Uptown Whitewater president Richard Bishop says it was a difficult season, but it was also a learning experience.
"We are really looking closely at the areas the rafters came from, where we picked up numbers and where we lost traction," Bishop said. "It looks like we lost a little out of Florida and a good bit out of Alabama. We picked up numbers in Georgia, especially the Atlanta area."
Despite the slow points this season, Gilbert is confident in the long-term growth of the whitewater course.
"We have been working with David Brown, executive director of the American Outdoors Association," he said. "He has been accurate with the kind of growth we could expect since we opened. He believes in three years we will see 65,000 to 75,000 rafters."