New spills and thrills await in Reno – Boise among cities looking to build whitewater parks

The women sink their paddles into the mountain snowmelt, crank their grape- and cherry-colored kayaks into a series of corkscrews, and let the riverbank’s gaudy enticements — Jacuzzi Rooms! Theme Rooms! Fantasy Rooms! — evaporate into the spritz of pummeling white water.

Ashley Powers
Los Angeles Times

http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041010/IDOUT/410100349

Karan Estee and Cari Holliman prefer to frolic on remote rivers lined with oaks or aromatic pines. Like millions of Americans who pour billions of dollars a year into mountain bikes, snowboards, hiking boots and other outdoor toys, these Salt Lake City friends bought their kayaks at least in part to escape the civilized life.

But this time Estee, 29, and Holliman, 30, explored the Truckee River not in alpine canyons near Lake Tahoe, but miles downstream, where engineers hired by the city of Reno have sent it frothing through a man-made kayak park downtown.

Whitewater park trend

While running rapids within an easy walk of showgirls and roulette tables may seem unique to the Biggest Little City of Contradictions, Reno’s urban whitewater has plenty of company.

In the past few years, 25 or so communities including Wausau, Wis.; Pittsford, N.Y.; and the Colorado cities of Boulder, Denver, Vail and Steamboat Springs have re-engineered the waterways coursing through their midst to create the rapids, riffles and "play holes" that whitewater kayakers appreciate. Missoula, Mont., Boise and Willimantic, Conn., are among a growing number of cities pushing to liven up their waterways — and city coffers.

A whitewater park in Colorado along Golden’s Clear Creek brings an estimated $1.4 million a year into the community through hotel, restaurant and other revenue, according to one consulting firm’s study. And promoters say the parks’ advantages go beyond the bottom line by helping improve river quality.

One of the country’s first kayak parks was modeled after a water course built for the 1972 Olympics. The East Race Waterway opened near the St. Joseph River in South Bend, Ind., in 1984, revitalizing a channel once packed with debris. Open only on weekends, the park draws as many as 10,000 visitors over the summer.

In what may become the most extravagant project, the Charlotte, N.C., area has proposed a $25 million artificial whitewater course, with movable boulders and rapids that can be changed to suit various levels of experience. Meant to emulate the 2000 Olympics’ run in Sydney, Australia, the waterway would anchor an outdoor adventure park with climbing walls, a ropes course, meeting rooms and a restaurant on 307 acres just a 10-minute drive from downtown.

An economics professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte predicts that the park could generate $37 million annually.

In Colorado, arid from the West’s persistent drought, critics don’t see kayaking as a good use of water. Farmers worry that sustaining adequate flow for downstream boaters could mean siphoning off water needed for thirsty corn and cattle. "We have a battle on our hands to try to protect agricultural water in the state," says Ray Christensen, executive vice president of the state Farm Bureau. "We could wake up one day and have really done damage and wonder: ‘Where did our water go?’ "

But in what the local media termed a faceoff between the New West and the Old, two Colorado court rulings settled a dispute over water rights in Golden, Vail and Breckenridge by putting recreation on equal footing with municipalities, agriculture and industry. The state Supreme Court deadlocked on the appeal, letting the decision stand.

Reno is selling itself in outdoor magazines and on big banners downtown as America’s Adventure Place, and its 10-month-old Truckee River Park at Wingfield is the linchpin.

One study shows the number of kayakers nationwide has leapt 125 percent in five years, to 9.9 million. About one-fifth of those are whitewater kayakers.

A University of Nevada-Reno economist predicts the park in Reno will draw several thousand fans to paddling events, while enticing locals and out-of-towners alike to spend at least $1.9 million a year at riverside eateries, shops and hotels. Two casinos and the city paid for the $1.5 million park. The state will reimburse them with bond money.

7,000 tons of rocks

Engineers took charge of the Truckee River as it cleaves downtown, miles from where it squiggles out of the mountains below Lake Tahoe. A few pieces of the river’s concrete corral are the only hints of the ’60s, when city officials tried to tame the flood-prone Truckee by straightening and deepening it through downtown. Concrete walls encased the small island around which the current now burbles. The local newspaper called the river "deadly," with a hydraulic rush that could "trap anything that falls into it."

In August 2003, Gary Lacy, Truckee River Park’s engineer, had workers replace much of the concrete lining with 7,000 tons of rocks, and crafted a step-like course of 11 pools and rapids rated a mellow Class II to III, on a scale of six. Workers dug the channels into U-shapes and used concrete to anchor the rocks. They carved the riverbed into slides: The current smacks the top, froths into whitewater and spills into a calm pool.

Now neophyte kayakers learn the basics near the spot where Estee rehearses her rotations, far from the moody wild rivers where she and Holliman were schooled in whitewater.

On the river’s south channel, slalom gates striped like candy canes dangle from wires across a channel the length of four football fields. Play holes — waves that allow kayakers to stay in one spot "surfing" and perfecting trick moves — stipple the north channel. Casual paddlers practice, champion kayaker Jay Kincaid trains, and the lines get Disneyland-long in the eddies where paddlers kick back to wait for a turn.

Nature, but sanitized

Some purists say they are uneasy with altering any river in any way. The grumblers came out during construction, says Lynn Zonge, a hydrologist involved in the planning. "They said, ‘Why does it look so engineered? Why is there so much concrete?’ "

Zonge says the park is nature, but sanitized. The city manages the park like a skateboard park: Visitors are responsible for their own safety.

The boaters attracted to ersatz rapids aren’t absurdist daredevils but a subspecies of thrill-seekers, hooked on ease and relative safety. Just as weatherproof finger-holds on artificial climbing walls appeal to jocks more interested in polishing moves than cheating death, predictable hydrodynamics attract play boaters.

Idaho river outfitter Les Bechdel doesn’t begrudge his urban brethren. "But from the safety aspect, it makes me nervous," says Bechdel, who co-wrote the book "River Rescue." "They go out there and run these rivers like a banshee and think they’ll be really good because they can do all these tricks. … But you have to spend time on a river to know its nuances."

Time-crunched urban dwellers and suburbanites account for almost two-thirds of kayakers.

Kayak parks target this built-in audience. "Man can’t build a Chesapeake Bay," says Brad Nelson, founder of a Pennsylvania group that tracks urban kayaking projects, "but man can build a whitewater park."

Engineers also can amend riparian shortcomings. "Nature doesn’t build great play holes one after the other," says Lacy, the engineer, a paddler himself. "You go to a river and realize there’s one good play hole in the whole run, and you think, ‘I could go to downtown Reno and there’s four in a row.’ "

Pro kayaker Tiffany Manchester, who trains on Ontario’s Ottawa River, loves the convenience of kayak parks such as Reno’s, where she has competed. But she understands why old-school "soul kayakers" see the artifice as an assault on the sport’s natural essence. At a park, she says, "you don’t hear the sound of the water and the birds. You hear cars honking. That’s sort of sad."

Even though the water was lowered in the Truckee River last week, kayakers still used the river park in Reno to perform tricks.

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Truckee River Whitewater Park

What: Truckee River Whitewater Park at Wingfield
Where: Downtown Reno
Getting there: Get off I-80 and head for Arlington Avenue.
Special features:

• It’s 2,600 feet long.

• It has 11 drops (rapids or waves) and pools, with five drop pools in the north channel and six in the south channel.

• 7,000 tons of smooth flat-top rocks and boulders were installed along the river banks and in-stream for easy public access and kayaking maneuvers.

• Deep pools with continual fresh water provide habitat for fish, particularly Lahontan cutthroat trout.

• A surrounding grassy park features an amphitheater and facilities for concerts, festivals, picnics, outdoor sports and recreation.

• Boating can start anywhere upstream. It takes 2 to 21/2 minutes to run the new whitewater park straight through, but many kayakers take hours, enjoying maneuvers in each pool.

• Water temperature ranges between 50 and 70 degrees. It doesn’t freeze.

• The park is open to kayaks, canoes and rafts, and inner tubes.

• It cost $1.5 million to build and was paid for with a voter-passed statewide bond.

• The engineer who worked on the Reno project, Gary Lacy of the Boulder, Colo.-based Recreation Engineering & Planning,has helped Boise with the planning of the Boise River Whitewater Park.

• For more information, log onto http://www.cityofreno.com/com_service/parks. Then click on Whitewater Park.

— Pete Zimowsky, The Idaho Statesman

An update on the Boise River Whitewater Park

Here’ s the latest on the status of Boise River Whitewater Park:

• The development of a whitewater park on the Boise River is part of the Boise River Management and Master Plan. The Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners endorsed the plan and adopted it by resolution by the Boise City Council and mayor.

• The city is working with organizations to develop a fund-raising campaign. The whitewater park is estimated to cost $1.5 million. Wait for details on how to help on the project.

• The fund-raising for the whitewater park will be done in conjunction with fund-raising for the adjacent Esther Simplot Park, which will feature sports fields, nature trails at ponds, picnic shelters and a flatwater canoeing course. Cost for the Esther Simplot Park improvements is estimated at nearly $4 million.

• The city also is working with local water users who own the irrigation diversions on the river where sections of the park are proposed.

• Three potential sites for the park have been identified: one below Ann Morrison Park at Settlers Diversion, another at the 36th Street Weir and another by the Farmers-Union Canal Diversion near Vets Park.

• When the city gets the money it needs to proceed, it will need several permits from various local, state and federal agencies.

The biggest hurdle would likely be a streambed alteration permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. The permit, known as a 404 permit, would analyze how the project is likely to affect streamflows and riverbanks.

During the permit application process, the Army Corps notifies other parties who could be affected by the project, including landowners, irrigation companies, state agencies and others and gathers their comments and concerns. There is also a 30-day public comment period.

After the comment period, the agency reviews all the information and decides whether a permit will be granted. That usually takes about 120 days.

A 404 permit also would satisfy the permit requirement for the Idaho Department of Water Resources.

But the city of Boise would require a conditional-use permit and a river system permit, which would ensure the whitewater park doesn’t conflict with zoning requirements or damage streambanks and vegetation.

• For more information on the Boise River Whitewater Park see Boise City’s Web site at http://www.cityofboise.org. Search for Whitewater Park and you’ll get details on the plans. Or, contact Doug Brooks, the project manager, at 384-4060, Ext. 325.

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* Zimo: Whitewater park in Reno was a pleasant surprise http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041010/IDOUT/410100319