Animas River Surfers, a nonprofit organization determined to create more safe and beginner-friendly river surfing opportunities in Durango, proposed a partnership with the city last month to study what it would take to create a multiseason surf wave on the Animas River.
The nonprofit is seeking buy-in from the city to fund a feasibility study.
Shane Sigle, principal at Durango-based river recreation and restoration company Riverwise Engineering, said in an interview with The Durango Herald such a study is likely to cost something in the range of $10,000, with costs dependent on the depth of the study.
Animas River Surfers Board President Amanda Kiessel said at a July 15 City Council meeting location, designs, water flow and impacts to the community, economy and environment are all important factors to be considered.
According to Mountain Town Magazine, the city’s existing Whitewater Park at the north end of Santa Rita Park was built in 1983 by a group of paddlers and engineers. The park was the “first whitewater park of this magnitude in the nation” with over 800 meters of surfable whitewater, the magazine wrote.
The problem for river surfers is they are only able to make full use of Whitewater Park about eight weeks every spring, Kiessel said.
“We love this river and we love this town, and we want to create an amenity that more people can enjoy for a longer period each year,” she said.
Sigle said most whitewater river features, particularly in Colorado, were built using large rocks with grout between them to hold them in place at specific angles to create hydraulics that make whitewater waves. These are the features in Smelter Rapid at Durango’s Whitewater Park.
Animas River Surfers is after glassy surfing waves – named for their smooth, reflective surfaces – as typically seen in the ocean, which surfboards excel at riding, Sigle said. Concrete plates forming a chute are used to create glassy waves, versus rocks and boulders used to create whitewater waves typically ridden by kayaks, canoes and other boats.
He said the best technological asset for features that achieve the nonprofit’s goal is an engineer’s experience.
Sigle said the Whitewater Park’s existing features work well in the springtime during snowmelt and high discharge, but that typically lasts just three to five weeks. Riverwise Engineering has successfully implemented designs to create waves at discharges as low as 120 cfs, as it did at the whitewater park in North Fork, Nebraska.
Riverwise Engineering can create ideal surf waves. But where along the Animas River would the features be installed? Sigle said he has an idea of multiple spots in town, although a feasibility study would allow more locations to be considered.
He said he’s familiar with the Animas River’s rapids in Durango, having moved to the city in the early 2000s to train for the Olympics and having designed several components of the city’s whitewater features.
A whitewater feature he engineered and designed at 29th Street is one place a glassy surf wave would work, he said. A location upstream from Whitewater Park between it and the U.S. Highway 160 bridge is another. The Whitewater Park itself could feature a glassy surf wave, particularly at the Corner Pocket and Ponderosa waves.
These locations are strong candidates in Sigle’s mind because they are publicly accessible; possess natural gradients that would allow the creation of hydraulics needed to make waves; and the river can be restricted in those places to install the proper geometric features to make hydraulics work.
The locations are also areas that don’t intrude on other river users, he said.
“We have a lot of different river users that are very interested in preserving their personal uses for the river, and that includes not only whitewater users, which are very common in Durango, but the fishing community is very strong in Durango,” he said.
He said some areas in the city, such as High Bridge between Walmart and Home Depot, are sensitive and valuable to the fishing community, and it’s important any whitewater projects don’t intrude on those territories.
Environmental permitting itself is a long and arduous process any project will have to endure, he added.
“Durango has always been on the leading edge of outdoor adventure and this kind of wave fits perfectly with our values in this town,” Kiessel said at the City Council meeting. “It would offer a fun, positive outlet for youth with a lower cost and physical barrier for entry; complement current tourism; and deepen our relationship with the river.”
Sigle shared the same sentiment to the Herald.
He said Riverwise Engineering and its sister company have designed and built between 80% and 90% of the recreational whitewater features in the United States and continues to lead that market, and it pioneered the two most popular waves in Colorado, the Pueblo and Salida waves.
“If you have a look at the Salida wave, you’ll see there’s usually a stack of about 15 people standing in line on any afternoon waiting to get on that wave,” he said. “ … Why do we not have that in Durango, which has the highest consistent discharge stream in the state, the warmest weather? We have the best site in Colorado to build that type of a feature, and why is Salida that far ahead of us?”
Councilors did not respond from the dais to Kiessel’s proposal, which she made during a public comment segment of the meeting. According to Animas River Surfers’ board minutes, volunteers at the nonprofit have contacted councilors individually to discuss the idea.
cburney@durangoherald.com
