Combined missions: Ball Mountain Lake drawdown feeds thrilling fall whitewater release
The Ball Mountain team released 1,500 cubic feet per second (cfs) of water on Sept. 19 and Sept. 20 as part of the Ball Mountain whitewater event. Operations at Ball Mountain began at 4 a.m. each day to prepare for the 10:30 a.m. start time.
The main run that draws recreation enthusiasts to the release is a 2.7-mile stretch starting at the outflow of Ball Mountain and ending at Jamaica State Park.
“The rafting companies take out another four miles downstream in the back waters of Townshend Dam,” said Alex Cote, project manager for Ball Mountain and Townshend Dams.
Historically, the event is well attended, and this year was no exception.
“We had a great turnout on Saturday and Sunday for the white-water releases, roughly 800 people,” said Cote. “We had the pleasure of hosting Col. Comfort and Maj. Miles who attended this year’s event.”
Miles actively participated in the rafting event.
“It was a great experience,” he said. “The water coming out of the dam was over 70 degrees, which I wasn’t expecting. The leaves were starting to turn early this year, so it was a nice setting for a rafting trip.”
While highly popular with water sports enthusiasts, the white-water event serves an important, practical engineering purpose. The releases assist USACE in dropping the pool from its summer elevation of about 68 feet down to its winter pool elevation of 45 feet.
“Depending on the inflows at the time of the release, park rangers start to make incremental gate changes as early as 3 a.m. and finish drawing down the outflows about 8 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday,” said Cote.
An event of this scale requires a strong partnership with local organizations and months of meticulous planning.
“Preplanning usually starts in the February/March timeframe,” said Cote. “At that time the American Whitewater Association submits a district-wide request for release dates. For Ball Mountain Lake and Townshend Lake, they request a spring and fall release.”
Cote said that once the dates are penciled in, he conducts monthly updates followed by weekly updates to let the association know if there will be enough water to hold the release as scheduled. Miles recognized the dedication of the Ball Mountain team in executing the event.
“The Operations team at Ball Mountain Lake, who also operate the dam and recreation area at Townshend Lake, put in a lot of extra work to support the release across a wide spectrum of activities,” he said. “Combined with having extra coverage due to the high volume of visitors, white-water releases require all hands-on deck for the Operations team out there.”
“There is a lot of coordination between the American Whitewater Association, the Reservoir Control Center, rafting companies and attendees throughout the summer,” said Cote. “The main purpose of this release is beneficial to our recreation mission as well as flood risk management and assists USACE in dropping the pool from the summer elevation of 65 to 68 feet down to our winter pool elevation of 45 feet.”
In addition to managing the water releases, the Ball Mountain Dam team set up an educational booth at the top of the dam focusing on water safety. Cote noted that the booth was well-received and that attendees seemed excited to see park rangers out and participating in the weekend's activities.
The tradition of white-water releases is as old as the dam itself, beginning in 1961. Construction of the Ball Mountain Dam, an earth-fill structure featuring slope protection, a gated circular concrete conduit, and a chute spillway cut in rock with a concrete weir, cost $11 million to complete. Today, the dam can store up to 17.8 billion gallons of water for critical flood control operations.
In addition to Cote, key park rangers contributing to the success of the event included Natural Resource Specialists Jordan Luks and Valerie Franklin; Park Rangers Corry Boyle and Henry Mossell; and seasonal Park Ranger Kaden McIntyre. Through their coordinated vigilance and hard work, this dedicated team successfully balanced civil engineering necessities with public recreation ensuring that Ball Mountain Dam continues to protect downstream communities while fostering a vibrant outdoor legacy for generations to come.
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