Proponents of a new dedicated river surf wave in Durango have pointed to other communities as proof of concept. Salida’s Whitewater Park, in particular, has been raised as an example of how strong a community asset dedicated surf waves could be for Durango.
“We have the best site in Colorado to build that type of a feature, and why is Salida that far ahead of us?” Shane Sigle, principal at Riverwise Engineering, told The Durango Herald this summer.
Advocates for building a new surf wave in Durango formed the Animas River Surfers group, which has already raised more than $10,000 for a feasibility study to determine where to build the feature along the Animas River in town and what hydraulic designs would work best.
Animas River Surfers Director Amanda Kiessel previously told the Herald a new river surf wave dedicated specifically for river surfing would be an economic boon that would contribute to tourism.
If the city of Salida’s experience is anything to go by, Kiessel could be on to something.
Mike “Diesel” Post, Salida Parks and Recreation director, said the city’s Whitewater Park along the Arkansas River has become the “lifeblood” of the mountain town of 5,661 people.
Salida began redeveloping its Whitewater Park – four rock and concrete wave features across 1,200 feet of river in downtown Salida – in 2019. Now, thousands of people can be seen floating down the river on a daily basis, Post said.
The impact to tourism is undeniable, if hard to quantify, he said.
“I can float through town in my fishing raft while seeing my daughter in the kindergarten wave learning how to body surf and my son down in the Scout wave carving,” he said.
The Scout wave is perhaps Salida’s signature wave and was developed with stand-up surfing in mind. Post said the Whitewater Park was developed very intentionally to feature waves catering to different skill levels. There is the Office wave, followed by the Ramp, Bridge and Scout waves.
The Bridge wave is also known as the kindergarten wave for being beginner-friendly. New surfers typically graduate from that up to the Office wave and eventually make their way to the Scout wave, he said.
Kiessel said Animas River Surfers’ idea for a dedicated surf wave in Durango is similar. The wave would be made for river surfers of all experience levels and serve as a safe and healthy outlet for children.
Simultaneously, she said, Animas River Surfers is aware of competing interests along the river, and the group aims to work with fishing and boating communities in developing the proposed wave.
Post said efforts to find compromise between different interest groups weren’t initially taken when Salida redeveloped the Scout wave, which has existed for at least 15 years and received new hype and attention after the Whitewater Park’s redevelopment.
“We lived through it after we built the Scout wave and it seemed to cause conflict with river rafters,” he said.
The Scout wave was built specifically for stand-up river surfing, but its original design never worked as well as it was intended. Post said wave design and technology such as LIDAR, (light detection and ranging) has improved immensely, and the Scout wave was redesigned as a more effective standing wave.
“Crashing waves tend to be pretty good for kayaking. Standing waves are better for stand-up paddle boarding – river surfing – and so we got a standing wave instead of a crashing wave,” he said.
After being knocked on the chin by boaters and fishers, Salida built a fish passage next to the Scout wave and a boat ramp upstream from it, which seemed to satisfy people, he said.
Salida’s Whitewater Park was first developed in the 1990s, he said. Like the Durango proposal for a dedicated surf wave, Salida’s park was the result of a small group of community members with a vision.
“They had a vision of turning the river into a centerpiece of town instead of something that you would turn your back to,” Post said.
Back then, a wall separated the Arkansas River from public spaces. Residents would dump their lawn clippings over the wall into the river. Post said the Arkansas River wasn’t a source of pride or attention to the city as it is today.
Over the next several decades, the community slowly built out the Whitewater Park.
Across the New Mexico border, the city of Farmington is still learning how to make the most of its new surf wave amenity, which was completed in late spring or early summer, said Gina Intoppa, Farmington integrated marketing and communications manager.
River surfers in Durango and the surrounding area flocked to Farmington’s recently built Animas River Wave in October in the wake of Tropical Storm Priscilla, which ushered in unprecedented river flows and flooding in Vallecito and other significant rainstorms across La Plata County, which fed the Animas River that flows through Farmington.
Farmington’s Gatewave river feature was made possible by a $2 million allocation from the New Mexico Office of Natural Resources, which received the funding from the Gold King Mine spill settlement, which was earmarked for enhancing river recreation across New Mexico, said Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett.
The city of Farmington also received $500,000 from a State Trails Plus Grant and used another $500,000 from local Community Transformation and Economic Diversification funds.
Intoppa said the surf wave was part of a larger ditch improvement project and is located behind the Farmington Museum’s campus. She is hopeful the entire campus will become a draw for tourists.
Paddleboarders and kayakers have been seen enjoying the wave. A fish ladder was built nearby the feature, allowing fish and boaters to go around the wave, she said.
Some users have requested more shade to be installed on the beach near the wave, she said. Farmington consulted with Desert River Guides and other community partners in designing the wave, and the city has received positive feedback so far.
Post said river wave projects require passionate proponents as well as understanding from elected officials and community members.
“Half your community is going to be really excited about more visitors who are there to river surf and the other half aren’t,” he said.
He said he is working on installing Placer.ai trackers to better gauge how many people are visiting Salida’s Scout wave. But even cellphone data to determine visitor demographics aren’t that useful when not many surfers are using their phones on the water.
cburney@durangoherald.com
