Laserfiche WebLink
<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD <br />721 State Centennial Building <br />1313 Sherman Street <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />January, 1986 <br /> <br />Chatfield Project Channel Improvement <br /> <br />Introduction <br /> <br />Last spring, during the unusually high runoff and during <br />construction of a new weir at Union Avenue, two individuals were <br />drowned while boating on the river. They both apparently <br />attempted to go over the new weir while it was still under <br />construction. <br /> <br />As a result, strong and sustained calls to provide safer <br />boating conditions have arisen. Specifically, some are urging <br />that the Union Avenue weir be rebuilt and that there be a safer <br />design constructed at a second location, the Brown Ditch, where a <br />similar structure with about a ten-foot fall is scheduled. <br /> <br />Proposed project <br /> <br />The issue of specific provisions for boating bypass in this <br />federal channelization project is not new. Boating interests <br />have asked the Corps of Engineers to modify the design or add a <br />bypass channel for boats over the past several years. That <br />interest stems in part from provision for boating in the <br />recreational improvements which have already been made in the <br />South Platte River downstream through Denver. <br /> <br />The Corps' position has been and remains that it is not <br />authorized to provide recreational boating facilities. Corps <br />officials in the Omaha District have expressed a willingness to <br />include any special facilities if nonfederal interests would pay <br />for their cost. However, the Board has been unable over the last <br />two years to find any local interests or governments who are <br />willing to contribute any funds. The Board did ask the Corps to <br />make provision for a boating bypass channel at the Union Avenue <br />weir in the future. <br /> <br />702 <br />agenda/14b <br />