Whitewater paddlers eager to try out new high velocity runs in the mountains are frustrated over the prolonged fight between Duke Energy and Jackson County.

Duke Energy has agreed to occasionally open the flood gates of its dams on the Upper Tuckasegee and Upper Nantahala rivers, creating whitewater on stretches that generally don’t have enough water to accommodate paddling. But the whitewater releases will only happen if and when the Dillsboro dam is torn down. And that’s something that Jackson County has managed to hold up for several years with a series of state and federal appeals.

Kevin Colburn with the paddling advocacy group American Whitewater said he is disappointed by the delay. Colburn got a taste of the Upper Tuckasegee during a trial run several years ago to determine whether paddling it would be feasible with a dam release.

“I was 25 when I did the study on the Tuckasegee and I’m 32 now. I thought I would be running that river two years later,” Colburn said. “Never would I guess it would be so long.”

Plans call for whitewater releases on the Upper Tuck’s west fork seven times a year and on the Upper Nanty eight times a year. Both stretches typically don’t have enough water to paddle except after major rains. Reason being, Duke Energy diverts the majority of the water from the riverbed through overland pipes to its power house. The occasional releases will restore the river to its natural flow plus some, making the runs suitable for advanced kayakers with the skills to navigate small waterfalls.

“It’s just fun,” said Bunny Johns, a paddler and recreation consultant in Swain County. Johns, who has run the Upper Nantahala when heavy rains allow, called the run “very desirable.” Johns couldn’t say how many people will show up on special release days.

“The upper part is going to have some self-restriction,” Johns said of the Nantahala. Unless you have significant skills or are a little bit crazy, you don’t throw yourself off waterfalls without some training,” Johns said. “The next section is water that a lot of people could get on. It is still challenging, but it is a reasonable step up from the lower Nantahala.”

Not all fun and games

There are numerous rivers across the South where special whitewater releases are held on select days. The power company provides the releases in exchange for damming up and using the river for hydropower the rest of the year.

Some attract hundreds of paddlers who descend on the river creating a party-like atmosphere. That prospect concerns homeowners in the area, especially on the Upper Tuckasegee, which is mostly surrounded by private property rather than forest service land like the Nantahala.

“If there are more than just a few people they will push themselves onto private property if it is very crowded,” said Doug O’Dell who lives at Lake Glenville. Friends of Lake Glenville homeowners’ group has been involved in the legal fray opposing the whitewater releases on the Upper Tuckasegee.

Another issue is that the whitewater releases cause a rapid rise in water levels that could be dangerous to fishermen or anyone else in the riverbed, according to Jackson County Manager Ken Westmoreland.

“Water went from ankle deep in the west fork of the Tuckasegee to six or eight feet in a matter of minutes,” Westmoreland said of the trial releases conducted several years ago.

It also floods private property, Westmoreland said.

“That rising water gets out of the normal riverbed that is public domain onto private property,” Westmoreland said. “The county’s responsibility is to protect lives and property.”

That’s one reason Jackson County is opposed to the special whitewater releases. That, and the fact that Jackson County would rather Duke spend its resources on a form of recreation that benefits a larger segment of the population than the elite paddling crowd.

Westmoreland fears a free-for-all atmosphere when paddlers descend on the Tuckasegee area on release days. Should the whitewater releases come to fruition, Westmoreland said the county expects Duke Energy to cover the costs the county will incur, from search and rescue to traffic control on release days.

“We are unwilling to do that at public expense,” Westmoreland said. “We are saying ‘we think this is a foolish idea but if you go forward with it and we have to spend money for rescue, somebody ought to pay for it other than the public.”

The West Fork of the Tuckasegee is a narrow, dangerous Gorge that periodically claims the life of Western Carolina University students either falling or drowning while exploring the river as it is.

Colburn thinks the fears are unfounded. Colburn see spin-off benefits for the region from the whitewater releases.

“You might have a couple hundred people and they would probably come and stay and spend some time in the area so it would definitely have a benefit,” Colburn said.