Budgeting issues and high water have caused planned improvements to Durango Whitewater Park to be put off until after the high-flow season, drawing concern from some rafting companies adversely affected by dangerous rapids.
Durango Parks and Recreation Director Cathy Metz said the department was hoping this winter to widen two rapids – Corner Pocket and Ponderosa – before the park’s second season. The work would effectively decrease the power of flows in a particularly narrow portion of the river.
The department put the work out in an informal bidding process that drew bids over the cost the city anticipated. Metz refused to disclose the figures.
As a result, the city had to enter a larger bidding process. Then the unseasonably warm weather hit.
“... Obviously, the river is already starting to rise, and we don’t believe we could get in the river now and be done in time,” Metz said. “So we’re going to have to wait until after the high flow, but the intention is to complete the work this year.”
News of the delay was a letdown to some local rafting companies negatively affected by the risky rapids, known for flipping kayakers and rafters during periods of high-water flows.
“I’m hoping that will change,” said Alex Mickel, owner of Mild to Wild Rafting. “Because that needs to be fixed immediately. The problem is at high water – it doesn’t function properly, as it was intended to.”
When a rafting company determines a rapid is too dangerous, guides have the option to portage – carry the boat over land to the next navigable put-in.
But that brings several problems, Mickel said. At some areas of the river, because of sharp dropoffs or other natural limitations with topography, it is nearly impossible to unload a group of eight people and haul a raft downstream.
“Often, we can adjust our trips, but it is difficult, and it doesn’t always work,” Mickel said.
The other less-favorable option is to simply not run the park, and that’s where complications from previous engineering decisions start to cut into business, said David Moler, owner of Durango Rivertrippers and Adventure Tours.
Moler said a four-hour trip includes running the Durango Whitewater Park, but when flows are too precarious, he makes the decision to launch below the rapids.
“Then I have to refund four-hour bookings to two-hour trips,” he said. “It does cut into us financially – into the thousands – but it’s only a couple weeks.”
Kevin Heiner, a regional director for Southwest Conservation Corps who helps organize Animas River Days, said the rapids – specifically Corner Pocket – bring on an added liability for the popular June event.
“It gets ‘trashy’ – that’s what we say as boaters,” Heiner said. “The rest of the park is amazing, but that feature at high flow is not fun, and it’s dangerous for a lot of people who don’t have experience on the river. Having that fixed would be much better for everybody.”
Entering its second year in operation since construction began three winters ago, the Durango Whitewater Park has received a mixed reaction from the river recreationists.
Its designer, Scott Shipley with S2O Design, said fine tunings to whitewater parks are routine, and part of the process is figuring out features of the river. A 3-D model he created shows a way to alter the Animas at these particular rapids, creating a bypass on the left bank.
“With all these parks, we design them using the best of our knowledge, and then you learn a lot when you run them,” Shipley said. “Once you see it run, you can go back and say, ‘This part here needs to be adjusted.’ And that’s what we’re doing.”
Shipley said the work on the two rapids, as well as an adjustment near the intake at the wastewater plant, is the last major tuning design of the park. Still, as with any whitewater park, maintenance will be required throughout the years.
“We’re excited about these improvements,” Shipley said. “We want to make sure people get what they want out of this process.”
John Brennan, a member of the Animas River Task Force, said that might not be possible.
“It’s whitewater, and there’s no way to make everything perfect and make everyone happy,” Brennan said. “You just do the best you can. It may not be what you ideally wanted, but it’s a constant thing to try and make better.”
The city will meet with the outfitters Wednesday to discuss concerns. Metz said there will be a public hearing in the coming weeks.
And with the high-flow season quickly approaching, summer will be another opportunity to observe the river.
“I know a few people out there think the end of the world is coming, but it is what it is,” Brennan said. “We’ll have another year to look at it and see any differences that people may have missed. It’s a bummer they couldn’t get it done this winter, but in the end, we’re fine.”
jromeo@durangoherald.com
