Are You Ready For The Boise River Float Season?
Floating the river in Boise is a tradition almost as popular as Football on Sundays. If you haven't floated the river do you even live in Boise? I mean seriously... what are you doing with your life?. If like me you've been awaiting your first float you might be a little frustrated because the river is not a man made attraction and the opening day is never set in stone. As a matter of fact the window for opening day is huge! Typically the season starts June 21, however the float has started as early as June 12 and as late as July 29.
How is the start of the season determined? According to a ktvb interview Scott Koberg, the director of Ada County Parks and Waterways said "it depends on how fast the river is flowing and when Boise Fire crews can clean the river of hazards and debris."
Koberg added that while the river is currently flowing at 1500 cubic feet per second the speed "will need to be closer to 1250 CFS to be safe for tubes and rafts."
If you floated the river in 2020 you may remember that the public air pumps at Barber Park were turned off. In the ktvb interview Koberg said to expect the same for the summer of 2021.
“We observed that it tended to facilitate the flow of people and utilization of the park without those air stations,. “At this point we don't intend to have the air stations up and running.”
At this point the river is not quite ready to play but plan ahead because in a matter of weeks we should be in the water.