Riverswap
March 28th
This week the water in the Salt River will become higher each day, until it is back at full riverflow and horses won’t be able to stand here anymore. This is because the flow of the Salt River is manually controlled by SRP, and they are executing the yearly riverswap.
They will swap the waterflow from the Bartlett dam to the Stewart Mountain dam. This is a good thing because river eelgrasses will start to grow again and Salt River horses can swim across the river effortlessly. It also means the beginning of kayak and tubing season.
We appreciate that SRP is taking a little more time to complete this swap more gradually than they used to, so that everyone including the horses, can get used to it. The other benefit is that people won’t be crossing the river so easily which gives the horses some of their privacy back in that part of their habitat.
Let’s have a safe season of fun floating the Salt River. We just ask that people respect that this is the home of the Salt River wild horses. Please steer/paddle clear of the wild horses long before you get close to them. Please maintain a minimum of 50 ft distance at all times, for their safety and yours.
SRWHMG.
Photo by SRWHMG Rick Blandford.
