The new intake drops at Smelter have transformed our river once again. If you are a rafter, an innertuber, a kayaker and you haven’t yet looked at these new dangerous drops, please do.
If these new weirs were truly designed with boaters in mind, as stated in an Oct. 23, Herald article, what boaters did they have in mind? Expert kayakers only?
I watched two expert rafters in dry suits and helmets take the left line and get washed for a few long minutes in the recirculating wave below – both were in and out of their raft several times.
These weirs have created a river-wide recirculating hole at this water level, and who knows what at higher levels.
These features will likely devastate the commercial rafting companies because it is unsafe at high water levels and a bump and grind over rocky weirs at low water. It is certainly not family friendly.
The improved Corner Pocket and Ponderosa look benign compared to these weirs. Will the city provide a shuttle service through the park?
It’s time to name this new river feature: How about “Flip Factory Falls?”
Sandy Bielenberg
Durango
