Drought conditions take toll on number of Chattahoochee River rafters

When the Chattahoochee River water flow slowed under drought-like conditions this summer, so did the rafting business at Whitewater Express, said owner Dan Gilbert.

The Columbus whitewater course opened Memorial Day 2013 and has exceeded expectations of the number of rafters each of the four seasons.

“We are going to have 5 to 8 percent growth, but that is a little disappointing,” Gilbert said. “However, you can quickly look at it and see where the problem is.”

The issue can be boiled down to three words — lack of water.

“Our numbers were way up in March, April, May and early June,” Gilbert said. “But then the drought hit us hard.”

Whitewater Express runs two types of trips on the 2.5-mile urban course that starts at the North Highland Dam near Bibb City and ends at the takeout ramp just below the Columbus Convention & Trade Center. There is a less challenging, and less expensive, low-flow trip and a more challenging, and more expensive high-flow trip. A low-flow trip on Saturdays is $38.50 and the high-flow trip will cost $69.50.

So far this year, 29,900 rafters have gone down the river with the lone commercial outfitter approved to operate on the course. That’s more than the 28,800 that rafted in 2015. By the end of this year, Gilbert expects the total to be about 30,500.

“A lot of times, we would have a full high-water trip scheduled and have to cancel it because we did not have the water,” Gilbert said. “That happened time and again.”

Richard Bishop, president of Uptown Whitewater Management LLC, the non-profit entity that manages the 2.5-mile urban course, said it was a difficult season, but it was also a learning experience.

“We are really looking closely at the areas the rafters came from, where we picked up numbers and where we lost traction,” Bishop said. “It looks like we lost a little out of Florida and a good bit out of Alabama. We picked up numbers in Georgia, especially the Atlanta area.”

Bishop, who has been working with the whitewater project through the construction process into implementation, plans to leave his role in January. Columbus Civic Center Director Ross Horner will replace Bishop.

“As we plan for next year, Ross will be involved in that process,” Bishop said.

Gilbert said the high water returned in late October when the Corps of Engineers began a draw down West Point Lake.

“We didn’t know it was coming, it just started one day,” Gilbert said. “We have been talking to the Corps about getting advance notice.”

If that happens, Gilbert would like to plan an outdoor event around it, similar to what happens in Summersville, W.Va., when the Gauley River is at high flow.

“We would love to have something similar to the Gauley Fest, and we have expressed that interest with the Corps of Engineers,” Gilbert said.

Despite the muted growth this year, Gilbert is confident in the long-term growth.

“We have been working with David Brown, executive director of the American Outdoors Association,” Gilbert said. “He has been accurate with the kind of growth we could expect since we opened. He believes in three years we will see 65,000 to 75,000 rafters.”

This story was originally published November 8, 2016 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Drought conditions take toll on number of Chattahoochee River rafters."