For weeks, paddlers and river vultures alike have looked at the upcoming Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race and wondered one thing.

Will there be enough water?

As he stood on the bank of the stream Friday afternoon at its most famous spot – Six Mile Falls – race director and Bangor superintendent of recreation Tracy Willette could afford a little grin.

A week’s worth of rain has helped swell what had been a rocky run of rapids into the full-fledged froth that have helped make the race so popular.

“It’s quite a change in the stream from Monday to today,” Willette said a couple hours later. “With all the rain that we’ve had it’s brought the level of the stream back up to a very competitive level and it will provide everybody a great course for tomorrow.”

Today’s 36th edition of the race will begin at 8:30 a.m. in Kenduskeag Village. The 16.5-mile course ends in downtown Bangor.

On Friday, the effects of the week’s rainstorms was evident: Six Mile Falls was running high, and the water had risen high enough to put the trunks of streamside trees underwater.

“It was low [Monday], but I don’t think any lower than years past,” Willette said. “It was something that we were keeping a close eye on.”

In past years, paddlers have braved high water, low water, oppressive heat and snow showers. One year, the finish line had to be moved upstream because high tide in the Penobscot River made the downtown bridges impassable on the Kenduskeag.

As of Friday, those low-water worries were a thing of the past. The level isn’t at flood stage, but is high enough to provide a challenge for paddlers of all ability levels.

“It’s pretty normal [now],” Willette said. “We’ve had higher water in the past, but I think this is a pretty typical spring level.”

And weather forecasts don’t call for ice or snow … or oppressive heat. Willette has even checked out the tide tables and found no problem.

“Everything will be normal,” he said.