Interesting Article in the LA Times...Waterparks

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Mountainbuzz.com :: View topic - Interesting article in the LA times... waterparks. Page 3 of 5 downtown, Concrete walls encased the small island around which the current now burbles. The local paper called the river "deadly," with a hydraulic rush that could "trap anything that falls into it." In August 2003, Gary Lacy, Truckee River Park's engineer, had workers replace much of the concrete lining with 7,000 tons of rocks, and crafted a step -like course of 11 pools and rapids rated a mellow Class II to III, on a scale of six. Workers dug the channels into if shapes and used concrete to anchor the rocks. They carved the riverbed into slides: The current smacks the top, froths into white water and spills into a calm pool. Now neophyte kayakers learn the basics near the spot where Estee rehearses her rotations, far from the moody wild rivers where she and Holliman were schooled in white water. Nolliman recalls a kayaking trek through the Grand Canyon, with ocean -big waves and a hovering moon. In Reno, she crawled out of the Truckee, glanced up and witnessed a marriage at the White Lace and Promises wedding chapel. On the river's south channel, slalom gates striped like candy canes dangle from wires across a channel the length of four football fields. Play holes — waves that allow kayakers to stay in one spot "surfing" and perfecting trick moves --- stipple the north channel. Casual paddlers practice, champion kayaker Jay Kincaid trains and the lines get Disneyland -long in the eddies where paddlers kick back to wait for a turn in the standing waves. In Colorado, and from the West's persistent drought, critics don't see kayaking as a good use of water. Farmers worry that sustaining adequate flow for downstream boaters could mean siphoning off water needed for thirsty corn and cattle. "We have a battle on our hands to try to protect agricultural water in the state," says Ray Christensen, executive vice president of the state Farm Bureau. "We could wake up one day and have really done damage and wonder: 'Where did our water goT fo But in what the local press termed a faceoff between the New West and the Old, two Colorado court rulings settled a dispute over water rights in Golden, Vail and Breckenridge by putting recreation on equal footing with municipalities, agriculture and industry. The state Supreme Court deadlocked on the appeal, letting the 9114411_ Reno's park has gone largely unchallenged. Some purists say they are uneasy with altering any river in any way. Most of the grumblers came out during construction, says Lynn Zonge, a hydrologist involved in the planning. "They said, 'Why does it look so engineered? Why is there so much concreteT " Zonge says the park is nature, but sanitized. Just as parents can fit a TV with a V- chip to block certain channels, engineers can filter danger from a river so that even boogie boarders and tube riders can share the currents. The city manages the park like a skateboard park: Visitors are responsible for their own safety. http:// www. mountainbuzz .com/viewtopic.php ?t= 2826 &highlight =c +hole 9/15/2004