FLORIDA — Typically, a 10-mile rafting journey down the Deerfield River can take around six hours.
But, last week, Eli Cantanzaro, a guide for Zoar Outdoor, said he made the run in about an hour.
And after another series of downpours, the Deerfield River has shown little sign of slowing.
At the Fife Brook Dam on the Deerfield River, which usually has scheduled recreational whitewater releases, flows have exceeded station discharge capabilities and spill gates are in use. As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, the water flow was over 4,600 cubic feet per second, more than five times the typical rate.
“This is a pretty rare occasion, actually. As far as my recollection, last season we didn’t even approach this high-water level,” said Spencer Laffond, head of group sales at the Charlemont-based company, which leads trips down the river.
So high was the water flow, Laffond said, Zoar Outdoor has had to cancel trips, though they have since resumed.
Rafters with Crab Apple Whitewater make their way through the rapids of the Deerfield River on the beginning of their trip, just down from the Fife Brook Dam near Florida, on Monday afternoon.
Water flow topped 4,600 cubic feet per second Tuesday afternoon in the Fife Brook section of the Deerfield River near Florida, according to Safe Waters, a website that tracks conditions. The river’s water flow typically is about 900 cubic feet per second, Laffond said.
The U.S. Geological Survey measures the river’s stream flow in nearby Charlemont. It peaked at 8,800 cubic feet per second July 9, according to USGS data.
The recent heavy rains prompted a warning Monday morning. “Flows have exceeded station discharge capabilities and spill gates are now in use,” the Safe Waters page on the area reads. “River activities are extremely dangerous at this time. Please use caution on or around the river.”
Still, groups were out riding rapids downriver of the Fife Brook Dam.
“Conditions on the river have flows above average for July,” Frank Mooney, river manager at Crab Apple Whitewater, also based in Charlemont, said in an email Tuesday. “We are still running trips seven days a week but adjusting sections of river to make the trips safe and fun for the level of whitewater chosen by our guests.”
“The Deerfield often runs at this level in the springtime,” he added, sometimes during a thaw or when snow melts, but the conditions are more rare for summer.
Eli Cantanzaro, right, a guide for Zoar Outdoor, and Grace Mazur bring a raft to the Deerfield River in Florida on Monday. Mazur took four of her friends on the river for a rafting trip.
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