Letter to Christopher Thorne Concerning Pueblo RICD

• Description: Pueblo RICD
• State: CO
• Basin: Arkansas
• Water Division: 2
• Date: 12/24/2001
• Author: Gary M. Lacy P.E.
• Title: Application for Recreational Water Rights of City of Pueblo: Rebuttal Report
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Correspondence

Recreation Engineering &.Planning
485 Arapahoe Avenue .
bou Ider, .Colorado 8 o 3 o 22
(303) 545 -5 8 83 Phone/ Fax .
RECEIVED
December 24, 2001
Christopher Thorne
Holland & Hart
555 Seventeenth Street
Suite 3200
Denver, CO 80202
Dear Mr. Thorne:
JAN 14 2002
HOLLAND: & jjA.; uP
The purpose of this report is to provide information regarding the water rights application
to be filed by the City of Pueblo for the proposed Arkansas River Legacy Whitewater Park (the
" Whitewater Park "). As the designer of the Whitewater Park, I have extensive factual knowledge
of and expertise regarding how and why the Whitewater Park was designed. As an avid kayaker,
I also have extensive knowledge of how the Whitewater Park will be used.
I have designed many such Whitewater Parks around the country, including Whitewater
Parks in Salida, Golden, Steamboat Springs, Aspen and Boulder, Colorado; Reno, Nevada;
Asheville, North Carolina; Ogden, Utah; and Green River, Wyoming. The Whitewater Parks I
have designed have hosted numerous national and international competitions. Based on my
experience as an avid kayaker and a kayak course designer, it is my opinion that this Whitewater.
Park will be one of the best in the region. As such, it will attract boaters from across the Front
Range, as well as from. across Colorado.
It is. my opinion that the Whitewater Park will function best at high flow rates. High flow
rates will turn the Whitewater Park into_a world -class facility for national and international
whitewater events, and will result in the highest amount of use by the general public.. It is my
opinion that water flows of up to 2,000 cubic feet per second ( "cfs ") is what draws the biggest
events and the most boaters from many areas, and that the boating experience and the operation
of the Whitewater Park are best at that flow rate. Water flows of up to 2,000 cfs is put to
beneficial use and there is no waste. The Whitewater Park will attract many boaters at 500 cfs
and above.. However, the quality of the Whitewater Park will be enhanced as flows increase: In
fact, higher flows make the Whitewater Park the, recreational attraction it was designed to be.