Posted by Brent Stovall on February 19, 2007 at 9:22 AM
hey guys and gals, I have been watching the water levels at the Ponca bridge via the BOC website. about five days ago it was 0" below and now 21" below. WOw does it typically drop that quick? Also the buffaloriveranddrain.com has not been working. Does anyone know why? Or is it working for you all just not me?
Leaving out this thursday for a weekend trip.
Thanks
Brent
Posted by TIMERNST on February 19, 2007 at 9:33 AM
Brent:
We had a 2" rainfall in one day last week and that would have sent the river up quite a bit - and yes, it can also drop that fast. It can go up or down a foot or two in several hours, although it does normally take it a little longer to drop than to rise. It is pretty low right now - we need some good rain to bring things back up again. On the other hand I can hear the Buffalo roaring 700' below me this morning from the back deck - the water is beautiful and this is one of the best times to be here. You won't see the waterfall full until we get some rain, but otherwise the creeks are flowing and it is just wonderful. Don't know about the web site - if it has anything to do with the government I would be surprised if it worked at all...
Posted by Brent Stovall on February 19, 2007 at 12:41 PM
"if it has anything to do with the government I would be surprised if it worked at all... "
be very very careful, you know they read this stuff and now you are on their watch list.
Thanks Tim, right now from ponca to pruit is flowing enough that we will not drag much and that is fine with me as I like it when we stay at indian creek the last night so we can explore. If it drops much more, we will likley flot the next section being from Pruit to Woolum. Hell it is all good as you know a weekend on the river is nice which ever section we float.
Must be nice living above such an amazing place. What area is your place?
B.
Posted by TIMERNST on February 19, 2007 at 1:05 PM
If you are floating it will be low for sure but I bet you have a grand trip just the same. I live in the Upper Buffalo River area, about six miles upstream from Boxley (aka the Hailstone).
Government folks can read? They don't seem to be able to lately, in Washington or in our local offices. They sure can count though - all that bribe money filling their pockets...
Brent, As a secondary method of checking the river level here's a link to the USGS water level page http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt. This lets you check any river gage they have, just drill down to Arkansas, then onto the Buffalo. They put a gage in somewhere around Boxely about a year and a half ago. At one time I could tell you the correlation between this gage and the Park service one but unfortunately I've forgottenI
Bruce
Posted by TIMERNST on February 19, 2007 at 1:16 PM
I don't know who it belongs to or if it is still active, but the last time I hiked upstream from the South Boxley Trailhead a year or two ago (and about a mile upstream from the Boxley bridge axcross the Buffalo), I found a water-level guage there - it was solar powered so I figured it was sending out reading somewhere.
Posted by Tom Kennon on February 19, 2007 at 10:32 PM
Brent, I am not sure why the buffaloriveranddrain.com is not working but I tried it and I am not getting a response. Most likely a short term maintenance issue but this was a subject a the Arkansas Canoe Board meeting this weekend and there are funding and private land access issues in play right now with the rain gauges. Check the Buffalo rain gauges again tomorrow and I bet it is working.
The following link should work well for you. It shows the river from Ponca below to be in good shape. Click on the headers and you can sort by name, level, etc. Based on the river levels in the area, I would be very surprised if the Buffalo below Ponca is too low for the weekend. http://www.ozarkpages.com/cgi-bin/stages.pl?ST=level
The gauge that Tim mentioned is the one for Boxley and is maintained by USGS on the above site.
Posted by Brent Stovall on February 20, 2007 at 9:28 AM
Hey Tom thanks for the information. A good site. Got my canoe out yesterday and started getting my gear together. really excited.
Brent
Posted by Tom Kennon on February 20, 2007 at 9:32 PM
Looks like the Buffalo gauges are working now, have fun. Looks like more rain by the weekend.
Discussion
8 repliesLeaving out this thursday for a weekend trip.
Thanks
Brent
We had a 2" rainfall in one day last week and that would have sent the river up quite a bit - and yes, it can also drop that fast. It can go up or down a foot or two in several hours, although it does normally take it a little longer to drop than to rise. It is pretty low right now - we need some good rain to bring things back up again. On the other hand I can hear the Buffalo roaring 700' below me this morning from the back deck - the water is beautiful and this is one of the best times to be here. You won't see the waterfall full until we get some rain, but otherwise the creeks are flowing and it is just wonderful. Don't know about the web site - if it has anything to do with the government I would be surprised if it worked at all...
be very very careful, you know they read this stuff and now you are on their watch list.
Thanks Tim, right now from ponca to pruit is flowing enough that we will not drag much and that is fine with me as I like it when we stay at indian creek the last night so we can explore. If it drops much more, we will likley flot the next section being from Pruit to Woolum. Hell it is all good as you know a weekend on the river is nice which ever section we float.
Must be nice living above such an amazing place. What area is your place?
B.
Government folks can read? They don't seem to be able to lately, in Washington or in our local offices. They sure can count though - all that bribe money filling their pockets...
Bruce
The following link should work well for you. It shows the river from Ponca below to be in good shape. Click on the headers and you can sort by name, level, etc. Based on the river levels in the area, I would be very surprised if the Buffalo below Ponca is too low for the weekend.
http://www.ozarkpages.com/cgi-bin/stages.pl?ST=level
The gauge that Tim mentioned is the one for Boxley and is maintained by USGS on the above site.
Brent