American Whitewater is pleased to announce the availability of two new online stream gages in the Sullivan Creek watershed in northeastern Washington.  These gages are brought to you by a partnership between American Whitewater and the Pend Oreille Public Utility District, and are available only on the American Whitewater website. The gages offer direct flow information for Sullivan Creek and the outflow of Sullivan Lake, and offer indirect flow information for other regional rivers in an area generally lacking stream gages.    

A gage on Sullivan Creek just upstream of the Confluence with Outlet Creek measures the natural flows in the free-flowing Sullivan Creek.  This gage will offer flow information for the upper reaches of Sullivan Creek and indirectly other regional streams.  

A gage on Outlet Creek just upstream of the confluence with Sullivan Creek measures the dam releases from Sullivan Lake.  The dam on Sullivan Lake holds back water in the early spring, then spills for some period of time, augments instream flows in the summer, and then releases water in the fall (September through November) at relatively high flows for downstream water supply, power generation, recreation, and reservoir level management.

American Whitewater has created a "virtual gage" that simply adds the flows measured by the two previously mentioned gages to calculate the flows in Sullivan Creek downstream of the Confluence with Outlet Creek.  This calculation represents the flows paddlers, anglers, and other visitors will experience in lower Sullivan Creek.  

These gages are part of the settlement agreement that American Whitewater signed with the dam owner and other stakeholders that includes guaranteed recreation flows from Sullivan Dam, the removal of Millpond Dam (on Sullivan Creek), public river access, and other enhancements to the area.  We greatly appreciate the Pend Oreille Public Utility District providing the public flow information that the new gages offer.