Kern River Questionnaire to Identify Knowledge Gaps (CA)

Photo of Macy Burnham by Ian Buckley

Southern California Edison (SCE) is in the process of conducting a questionnaire in support of relicensing KR3, the North Fork Kern River hydropower project that includes Fairview Dam and Kern #3 Powerhouse. American Whitewater has been actively engaged in the KR3 relicensing and working to make sure that the Whitewater Boating Study accurately reflects whitewater recreation use within the project-affected reach.

The Structured Interview Questionnaire is a thorough survey designed to help SCE narrow the focus for other components of the Whitewater Boating Study. It will take 20-30 minutes to complete and should only be taken once. Taking some time to complete this study will help identify where gaps in information about the project reach exist in the boating community.

This is the second of several surveys that SCE is conducting over the course of the 2023 paddling season on the Kern. Sharing your knowledge about the North Fork Kern, flows, and difficulty, will help to inform further investigation of boating on the Kern 3 section. A particular interest of this study is identifying knowledge and experience gaps. If there is a specific flow and section that you have not been able to paddle because of the current KR3 operation schedule, please make note of it in the Structured Interview Survey. American Whitewater has negotiated with SCE to provide additional releases, as possible, for identified flow range knowledge gaps.

The structured interview questionnaire will be open through mid-August 2023. If you anticipate gaining quite a bit of knowledge on paddling the Kern in the coming months, consider setting a reminder to take survey closer to its closure date. Thank you for taking the time to participate in the REC-1 Boating Study!

Use the link below.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KR3StructQuestionnaire

By Jeff Venturino

Originally posted on AmericanWhitewater.org.