Good news for paddlers who like an extra challenge when they're on the Neuse River. Bad news if you were planning to participate in this weekend's Neuse River clean-up.
The Neuse this weekend will be better suited for paddling than picking up.
According to Jackie Miller with the Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation, the Army Corps of Engineers plans to up the flow out of Falls Dam from the current 2,100 cubic feet per second to 3,000 cfs for the weekend. (For perspective, Paul Ferguson's "Paddling Eastern North Carolina," says the river is runnable below the dam down to 110 cfs.) That's good for the more proficient recreational paddlers out there.
It's not so good if you were planning to participate in this weekend's clean-up. "The high water and rapid current are unsafe and impossible for collecting trash," reports Miller. "NRF will not be putting boats on the river. We do not want your groups to go out in the Neuse River on Saturday."
Thus, the river collection portion of the clean-up is canceled. Miller says groups interested in going out on boats to clean the river can contact the office — 856-1180, jackie@neuseriver.org — they'll work something out with you. There will, however, still be onshore clean-ups Saturday around the canoe launch sites we mentioned in our report yesterday.
The obvious thing to do tomorrow? Report to the launch site of your choice at 8, help tidy up, then take advantage of the more-swift-than-usual-current on the Neuse.
