The U.S. Army Corps Engineers’ Philadelphia District released the 2020 Flow Management Plan for the Francis E. Walter Dam in White Haven, PA. The plan, developed in partnership with Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, lists dates and release amounts for whitewater and fisheries releases for the recreation seasons. This year water is again being allocated to ensure white water releases from 1 July through Sunday 16 August and fisheries releases from 1 July through Friday 4 September, while relying on seasonal precipitation and additional water accumulations to allow scheduling of releases for later in the season (late August through mid-October).
2020 planned dates (22) for fishing releases (target 400 cubic feet per second)* are:
- March: 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29
- April: 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26
- May: 2, 3, 9, 10, 17, 24
- October: as provided by end of year release around the weekend of Oct. 10-11
* Release will be set to match inflow with a target release up to 400 cubic feet per second. Inflow will not be augmented by use of storage to satisfy the 400 cfs target.
2020 planned white water release dates (24) are listed below. All other dates during the recreation season, until the weekend of October 10-11 have a planned fisheries augmentation release of at least 50 cubic feet per second if sufficient water is available.
- May: 16, 23, 30, 31
- June: 13, 14, 27, 28
- July: 11, 12, 25, 26
- August: 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29*, 30*
- September: 5*, 6*
- October: as provided by end of year releases around the weekend of Oct. 10-11
**The Oct. 10-11 weekend release is intended to provide a means of releasing any excess water that may have accumulated during the recreation season. This is the last added increment for the 2020 recreation plan.
In 2020, the Army Corps is holding a total of 22 fishing releases and 24 whitewater release dates (four of which are dependent on additional precipitation along with fisheries enhancement releases on all other days during the recreation season). All dates are dependent on hydrologic conditions and the absence of the need for flood control operations.