Boaters carry raft 16 miles to protest how hydropower saps Kern River
It started out like a typical whitewater rafting trip on the North Fork of the Kern River. Boaters paddled through churning rapids, gliding past boulders and crashing through breaking waves. But after a few miles, as they approached a dam, the group drifted to the bank and lifted their blue raft out of the water to begin an eight-hour journey on land. Their plan: to hold an unusual protest by carrying the raft on foot for 16 miles beside a stretch of river that is rendered impassable where the dam takes much of its water and reroutes it far downstream. … [W]hitewater enthusiasts, including some who run rafting businesses, are demanding changes in the [Southern California Edison’s Kern River No. 3] hydroelectric plant’s operations to leave more water in the river. They are calling for measures to ensure flows for boating as Edison seeks to renew its license for the hydroelectric plant from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
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