News & Alerts
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PCWA will keep you informed about upcoming activities that may affect your trip.
• planned maintenance activities;
• reservoir spill events;
• special releases;
• emergency or unplanned outages;
• natural events that could affect access, such as
landslides/rockfalls and wildfires;
• road or trail closures; and
• National Forest or State Park closures.
Current Alerts:Tahoe National Forest
To provide for public safety, the Tahoe National Forest (TNF) has closed a portion of Mosquito Ridge Road (Forest Road 96) and select trail segments within the TNF as described in TNF Forest Order No. 17-23-01, effective January 5th through December 31st, 2023. With Mosquito Ridge Road and Ralston Ridge Road (Forest Road 23) closed, the Ralston Afterbay area and Indian Bar Rafter Access are currently inaccessible.
Reservoir Spill Events
With the wet water year and heavy snowpack, Hell Hole Reservoir is spilling. Here is a photo of Hell Hole Reservoir spilling on May 13, 2023. According to our most recent forecast (May 15, 2023), Hell Hole Reservoir will continue to spill into June 2023. Reservoir Elevation Forecasts for Hell Hole Reservoir and French Meadows reservoirs can be found here. Please note that the forecast is an estimate and subject to change. An updated forecast will be provided on or before July 1. Real time reservoir elevation levels at Hell Hole and French Meadows reservoirs are available here.
Recreation Releases
The license for the MFP requires that PCWA make releases to support whitewater boating on the Middle Fork American River downstream of Oxbow Powerhouse.The schedule varies from year-to-year, but generally runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day, to coincide with the peak recreation season. However, Oxbow Powerhouse is currently not operating due to a forced outage that is out of PCWA’s control. Therefore, PCWA cannot make recreational releases at this time. PCWA will initiate recreational releases according to the 2023 summer release schedule as soon as normal operations at Oxbow Powerhouse resume.
Stream Flow Gage Data Alert
PCWA monitors and reports instream flows using numerous gages located throughout the Middle Fork American Watershed and provides real time flow data here: https://www.middleforkfun.com/flows/r2. However, it is important to note that some of PCWA's communication infrastructure was damaged by the Mosquito Fire. Therefore, some gage information is currently not being recorded and/or transmitted, and some gage data may not be accurate. Accordingly, the real time flow data presented on this website should be used with caution. PCWA is working diligently to repair damaged infrastructure and will notify the public when the MFP stream gages and communication system are fully operational.
