Kayakers will get rare chance to play on Sultan River in late April

In late April, kayakers will get a rare chance to paddle the Sultan River below Spada Lake.

As part of an agreement during the relicensing of Culmback Dam, the Snohomish County Public Utilities Department agreed to release water a few times each year for kayakers.

There was some earlier concern that water levels might be an issue after such a dry winter, according to Thomas O’Keefe of American Whitewater. But after a recent meeting, O’Keefe said that the releases should be able to go forward without impacting water supplies. Neil Neroutsos of the PUD said that the reservoir is currently at 106 percent of normal.

Back in 2007, kayakers tested out the river at various flows.

A lot may have changed in the river since then, so it will be interesting to see what kayakers find after they actually get to float it again.

I’ll be writing more about this soon. Precises dates haven’t been set yet for the kayaking days. Once I know what they are, I’ll be sure to add an update.

If you’re curious to see what the rapids on the river look out, the PUD has a number of videos, showing different rapids at different flow rates.