Some river outfitters close early due to low water

Those that remain open along the Buffalo River in northwest Arkansas hope next year will be better for canoe rentals.

August 21, 2012|by Joanna Small, KSPR News | Reporter and Photographer

ST. JOE, Ark. -- Summer may be just now coming to a close but the season was over before it even began for some Ozarks businesses. Canoe rentals just aren't big business during the worst drought in five decades.

The half dozen river outfitters still open along the Buffalo River in northwest Arkansas have been powering through painfully low water levels since June. There are 12 total; the upper portion of the river is usually unfloatable by now and those businesses close in early summer, but even one outfitter in the middle river is no longer renting and the ones that are renting aren't renting much.

There's not much in St. Joe.

"There's a couple of gas stations, a post, some of the boys work there -- that's about it."

This summer, Amy Reed is right -- that is about it. The lifeblood of the community is pretty dried up.

"You can see kind of where the green is coming in, on a good year most of that is under water," Reed said, pointing at the rocks by the river where plants are poking through.

"This year it started tapering off in June, June-July," Reed said of business at Silver Hill Canoe Rental.

That wouldn't be so bad, but Reed says the Buffalo River hasn't had a good year in two years; neither has the business.

"It was about 20 percent last year and about 15 percent this year."

That's 35 percent fewer canoers than Silver Hill had in 2010. Unfortunately that's pretty typical of every outfitter along the Buffalo. Last year, river usage dropped from 80,000 to 60,000 and 2012 saw even fewer floaters.

"We absolutely worry about our concessioners. We want them to have successful, viable businesses. However, when it's weather dependent, there's not a whole lot we can do for them," said Teri Gage, the National Park Service's Commercial Services manager for the Buffalo.

A case in point is the water crested at 38 feet in 2008; that year was a bad year too.

"The river floods, it goes down. It goes down, it comes back up," Reed said.

That's just life on the Buffalo. So, maybe next year St. Joe will have more to offer than just gas.

"Next year is going to be a better year," Reed said.

Plus there is still some promise for this year. About an inch and half of rain fell along the river last week, which brought up water levels in the middle -- where Silver Hill is located -- from about 3.1 to 3.3 feet.

The river is still floatable in both the lower middle sections and the entire lower portion. The outfitters recommend canoers do shorter trips, four to six miles, and prepare to drag at least four or five times.

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