Up until this year, the latest the Boise River had ever opened to floaters was July 15th.  We already know that we're looking at an extremely abbreviated float season, but could it begin before the end of this month?

According to the Idaho Statesman, its not totally out of the realm of possibility.  The Bureau of Reclamation is planning to drop river levels low to that number people have been crossing their fingers for all summer: 1,500 cfs! That's the flow considered safe for floaters on the river and the same flow where the county feels comfortable renting tubes/rafts to floaters at Barber Park.

That's factor one.  Factor two? Debris in the river.  The Boise Fire Department tells the newspaper that thanks to the hard work of their crews, most of the fallen trees and other flooding debris have been removed from the part of the river used by floaters. (New to Boise? That's the part between Barber and Ann Morrison Parks.) They're confident that they could give the green light from their side by next weekend.

It's not a sure thing just yet.  The Dive Rescue Team will make their sweep of the river before tube/raft rentals begin and they could always find bigger debris hiding beneath the water.  The City of Boise also has to figure out what they want to do with a telecommunications cable that got uncovered during clean-up.

Michelle Heart/TSM Boise
Credit: Michelle Heart, Townsquare Media
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How Do I Float the Boise River?

Do NOT jump in the river before we get the official word that it's safe to do so! Once we get the go ahead, we've got a pretty comprehensive guide to floating the river HERE.

One word of advice? Do NOT be like my fiance when it comes to parking cars for the float! Last year we parked his car at Ann Morrison Park and drove mine up to the river put-in at Barber Park.  While we were REALLY excited that we made it to the end of our float without completely capsizing before the Warm Springs Golf Course like we did on our first float together, he still made one royal mistake.  When we got to Ann Morrison Park he started patting his pockets and went "Oh, no."  Turns out he left the keys to his car in my car at Barber Park.  I made him bum $3 off some other floaters for a shuttle ride back to get my car while I stayed to deflate my raft and work on my tan.

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