RALEIGH, N.C. (November 5) – The N. C. Wildlife Resources Commission is alerting trout anglers of increased flows in the Nantahala River in Macon and Swain counties. Major generator repairs have required Duke Energy to take the Nantahala Hydro Station out of service in October. Due to the unusually high rainfall in September and October, Duke Energy has had to begin releasing water from the lake sooner than expected and control the reservoir by using the spillway gates. Water is now being released from the gates into the Delayed Harvest section.
Duke Energy has been working with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to mitigate the impact of these increased flows on angling and will try to reduce flows on the weekends to permit angling. However, holding back water on the weekends will require more water to be released during weekdays, which will make conditions less suitable for angling.
Duke Energy provides a weekly update, or as circumstances change, on its planned operations for the Nantahala project on their Web site. Please note that flows are anticipated to be high for the next week or so as Duke attempts to balance releases into the Nantahala River against suitable reservoir levels after the heavy rains of the past several weeks.
Anglers can also check the following hyperlinked stream flow gages to understand how much water is flowing in the river:
- Nantahala River stream flows upstream of Nantahala Lake
- Nantahala River stream flows downstream of Nantahala powerhouse
Anglers should remain alert while on the river since Duke Energy can change operations to respond to changing circumstances without prior notice. The Commission encourages those recreating in the Nantahala River to pay special attention to changing weather conditions and take any necessary precautions. Currently, Duke Energy anticipates completing the repairs and returning to normal operation by the end of December 2009.
The Delayed Harvest section of the Nantahala River is an extremely popular trout fishery. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission stocks this section with high numbers of trout from October - May. The section remains under catch-and-release regulations during this period before harvest is allowed after the first Saturday in June.
For more information on the Commission’s Designated Public Mountain Trout Waters program visit www.ncwildlife.org.
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