Laserfiche WebLink
The Salida Boating Park <br />Background <br />I have a long history with paddling in and around Salida on the Arkansas River. I <br />paddled there often growing up and have raced in the now famous First In Boating, ARKansas <br />(FIBARK) kayak races almost every year since my first entry at the age of 19. This event, the <br />success of other boating parks, and the popularity of paddling on the Arkansas led the City of <br />Salida to look into avenues for improvements to this stretch of the river. <br />Two Structures were built in the Arkansas River. The first structure, the Upper Hole, was <br />designed and built under a contract with the City in phase I of the project in 2001. In this initial <br />phase deflectors, initial bank improvements and some whitewater features were installed. The <br />second drop structure, the Lower Hole, was built in the second phase, which my firm was <br />contracted to do in 2003. In this phase a second hole /wave feature was installed and an extensive <br />trail system, bank terracing and park rehabilitation project were undertaken. The finished result <br />was an extensive whitewater park -that was integrated with downtown Salida, with a number of -- <br />riverfront businesses, and that served as a significant attraction to visitors to Salida. Both the <br />Upper Hole and Lower Hole structures are designed to divert and control flows above 1800 cfs. <br />The design for the park took into account many users with a variety of needs. The City <br />of Salida was looking for a way to create a tourist attraction and to integrate this attraction with <br />downtown business. The tourists who visited were a mix between in- stream users and people <br />who visited the park to paddle and those who came to watch and to play in and around the water. <br />All of these needs had to be accommodated in the park. In addition, the design needed to <br />accommodate a wide variety of in- stream users that spanned the gamut from very inexperienced <br />to expert level. The current design has features for all of these users and has been well received <br />by all levels of visitors and is currently used by both commercial and private boaters. <br />Appropriateness of Reach <br />The CWCB, in their document Recreational In- Channel Diversion ( "RICD') Policy <br />Regarding Technical Criteria (2003), states that a reach of stream is appropriate for a whitewater <br />park if the Power Index (P.I.) is greater than 75. The Equation for determining the P.I. is shown <br />as: <br />P.I. _ Drop * Flow * 100 <br />Re ach <br />The Salida Boating Park drops 2.06 feet over a reach of approximately 365 feet. Using <br />Equation 1, the Power Index. for the Salida course is 113 at 200 cfs. The P.I. is 1016 at 1800 cfs. <br />The P.I. clearly exceeds 75 at all flows between 200 and 1800 cfs. <br />-4- <br />