River Gauge Restoration

Click on the illustration to see a larger image

Over the last couple of years, members of the Berkshire & NH Chapters of the AMC, and the Merrimack Valley Paddlers have been repainting a number of river gauges in New England. Many rivers in the Berkshires, Southern Vermont, and here in New Hampshire have been completed. Here in New Hampshire we've also added a number of new gauges on many of our popular whitewater runs.

The new and restored gauges have been painted using stencils based upon an enameled iron Stevens Gauge purchased by the Berkshire chapter for use on the Wardsboro Brook. The gauge pattern is different than older hand-painted gauges, however once you're used to it, it is much more precise and easier to read.

Each edge of a paint mark corresponds to one tenth of a foot. The longer pointy edges next to the numbers mark the whole foot marks. The longer pointy edges not next to a number correspond to the one-half foot marks. To obtain a gauge reading, just count up or down from a long pointy edge by increments of one tenth of a foot. In the example here the gauge reading is 1.8 feet.

On many rivers the existing gauge has just been replaced or relocated using the same measurements. On other rivers where the gauge either long gone or never existed a new gauge has been painted. Whenever possible an attempt was made to have the new gauge measurements match the write-up in Gabler and other river guides. For rivers where that was not possible we attempted to paint the gauge in a reasonable range. It will be a season or two before we really know what the "proper" measurements are.

The status of current gauges here in New Hampshire is:

Lower Ashuelot (Hinsdale) [IV]: New gauge upstream of Paper Rapid. If you run this river, please let us know the level and river condition.

Upper Ashuelot [III/IV]: Existing gauge repainted with same measurements.

South Branch Ashuelot [III/IV]: Slated to be repainted summer 1998.

Upper Otter Brook [III/IV]: Existing gauge repainted with same measurements.

Souhegan [III]: Existing gauge at put-in repainted.

Souhegan [II]: New gauge on downstream river left bridge abutment at Class II put-in. Label of "minimum level" painted by gauge is a bit conservative.

Warner [IV]: New gauge on river right bridge abutment below the runnable dam (the one where you run the slot) and upstream of class IV drops. If you run the Warner this spring, please let us know what the gauge reading was and your opinion of the level.

Little Suncook [IV]: New gauge on the Route 107 bridge abutment on river left at the put-in. If you run this river please let us know what the reading was and your opinion of the level.

Suncook [II]: Existing gauge below the take-out is long gone. A new gauge on the center bridge abutment at the take-out will be painted this summer. We will "attempt" to make the new gauge match the write-up in Gabler.

Winnipesaukee [III]: The Existing gauge at the put-in was repainted.

Smith [IV]: The existing gauge on bridge abutment in center of run was repainted.

Mad [IV]: The existing gauge is slated for repainting this summer.

Bearcamp [III]: The status of the gauge is unknown. We'll check it this spring.

Wild Ammonoosuc [III]: A new gauge was painted on the upstream end of the center bridge abutment of the covered bridge at the put-in. If you run this river please let us know what the reading was and your opinion of the level.

Pemigewasset (East Branch) [IV]: The existing gauge near the put-in was repainted. A new USGA gauge was also constructed in Lincoln a couple years ago. This new gauge is available over the Internet. At USGA gauge reading below 3.5 feet, subtract 2.0 to obtain the paddler gauge reading.

Gale [IV]: The gauge at the Church Street bridge was removed years ago when the bridge was rebuilt. A very rough replacement gauge NOT mentioned in Gabler was painted on the river left bridge abutment of the Streeter Pond Road bridge a number of years ago. This newer gauge was repainted and cleaned up. A reading of 1.0 feet is considered a good level. 2.0 feet would be considered high. We don't know what "low" or "too low" would be.

Upper Swift [II]: The old gauge on the Bear Notch Road bridge has been gone for years. A new gauge in the same location (downstream end of river right bridge abutment) has been painted. At attempt was made to make the new gauge match the description in Gabler. If you run this river, please let us know if we guessed right.

Lower Swift [IV]: The old gauge is mostly worn off, a new gauge was painted several years ago across on a rock wall across the river from the original gauge. This newer gauge was NOT painted using the templates so it should be read from the center of the paint marks, not the edge. At lower levels (below 1 foot) the old gauge and new have similar readings. At higher water levels the old gauge rises quicker since it sits below a wave while the newer gauge is in an eddy. A reading of 2.5 on the new gauge corresponds to about 3 feet on the old one.

East Branch of Saco [IV]: The existing gauge on downstream end of Route 302 bridge abutment was repainted. It was so old and faded that it almost couldn't be read. There is no write-up in any of the books. Lower than 1.7 feet is considered probably too low. Above 2.25 is probably too high. If you paddle this river please, let us know what the reading was and the what you thought of the river paddleability.

Ellis [IV]: The USGS gauge mentioned in Gabler still exists but is very hard to find (above the put-in). Several years ago a paddlers gauge was painted on a Route 302 bridge abutment. However last summer the bridge was removed during road construction. A replacement gauge will be painted on the new bridge this summer.

Rocky Branch of Saco [IV-V]: The paint gauge on a rock at the Route 302 takeout was removed when a new bridge was built a few years ago. A new gauge has been painted on the downstream end of the river right bridge abutment of the OLD Route 302 bridge (next to the NEW Route 302 bridge). If you paddle this river please, let us know what the reading was and your opinion of the level.

Saco [II/III]: The gauge at the class III takeout/class II put-in was made difficult to read when rocks were piled up against the abutment. A new gauge has been painted on the downstream end of the center abutment of the same bridge. We attempted to maintain the same measurements, but we won't know for sure until several measurements are made. If you paddle the Saco this spring please let look at BOTH the old and new gauge and let us know the measurements.

Thanks to Stan Solomon, Garry Crane, Sue Keroes, Michelle Quigley, Tom Quarles, and Frank Turrisi for helping me with all the work.

If you know of other gauges that need repair, or have suggestions for other rivers that need gauges please call Skip at XXX-5567 (EMail to "XXX").

Copyright Feb. 1998, Skip Morris. All rights reserved.

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