BOARD01483

• Board Meeting Date: 7/24/2000
• Description: ISF Section - Recreational Instream Flows - Policy Discussion
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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J ~ Gary Lacy sldesurls In a wave that he created two years
ago at the whilewater park in Golden.

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''; an Bur eo HOciir'Rlver, .; padd eS'w"ft 11ls' ands'"'ln'a '. .
whitewater rodeo hole c.reated by the seventh drop at the waterpark.

WHITEWATER WONDERS

By-:-Jason Blevins
Denyer Posl BusinessWnter

6-:: OLDEN - Garv LacY carves his
:: kayak into the crowded eddy,
..- exchanges nods with a couple of
- fellow kayakers, and drives his
boatinto the maw of a foaming, man-made
w~1..e'in the middle of Clear Creek.
"That guy designed this wave," says one
boater, gushing reverence like the water
f1o'Wlng beneath his kayak.
:uJ thellelmeted heads in the eddy turn
to~:ard Lacy, a. youthful 44-year-old
hydraulic engineer, who has spent the past
~W-Years designing whitewater parks across
lh~~tale.
~~tely, Lacy's also heen turning the heads
of tourism officials and municipal planners
acfoss Colorado with an eve toward
re\:italizing riverfronts and filling them
wi~_~ people.

Tourism figures rising

"It's phenomenal whOlt the river has done
fOf our lOurlsm," S:lVS AnitJ Norlhwood.
executive director o"r lhl! chamuer of
'::ommercl' inS;llida, which;lIlnuai>;hosts
r-lH'\HK. the n:ltion's 01<1t':;[ dow~:':':t'r

Colorado towns ride wave
ofkayaking's popularity

kayaking race.

A pair of lncal kayakers in Salida, with
help from Lacy. recently augmented an
existing man. made wave in the middle of
town that draws kayakers daily from as far
as Denver, Vail and Crested Butte.

"With the oldest kayaking race in the
country; it should only make sense that we
have a place we can brag about as far as
opportunilies for kayakers to play," says
Northwood, noting that the number of
rafters and kayakers on the Arkansas
River. which flows through downtown
Salida,'has grmvn from around 350,OOO-in
1990 to more than 6jO.OOO last summer.
"Obviously, ha\'ing a waterpark only
enhances our opportunities."

Lacy hilS an artistic ability to arrange
;J:!!:'s of boulders in flowing-willer anel
e!:3tf' J limi~les:: patemi.:;! for k3yakim;

play. His work includes the entire 5-mile
Boulder Creek bike path and whitewater
park, as well as dozens of river restoration
projects.
"AliI try to do is capitalize on existing
resources. The water's already' there. These
parks have really become an incredibly
huge economic generator - way more than
I ever predicted," he says. "Really this isn't
about drawing boaters as much as creating
a focal point for activity and color and
really revitalizing an urban area."
Besides the Arkansas River. other
man. made whitewater play parks and
slalom kayaking courses include:
II Eben G. Fine Park on Boulder Crl'ek in
Boulder.
C Conflu':!nce Park at-the confluence of
the South Platte River and Cherry Creek in
:.le:wer. .

. Clear Creek in Golden.
. Union Street Chutes on the South Platte
River in Englewood.
. Tbe Animas River in Durango.
. Tbe Yampa River in Steamboat
Springs.
Of tbose, Lacy designed the Steamboat
Springs park, the Clear Creek park, part of
Confluence Park, part of the Salida
whitewater park and slalom course.
Boulder Creek park, and :I7 other drops and
waves in the 5 miles of creek that run
lhrough Boulder.
He's also designed and offered insight on
proposed whitewater parks in Pueblo,
Gunnison, Grand Junction and Palisade,
Fort Collins, Breckenridge. Silverthorne
Vail and Farmington, N.~L .
Fastest growing sport ..
Twenty years ago, Lacy would aPPro.
town planners and town councils with
proposals that stressed conservation
measures like river restoration and
creating a quality environment for [ish. In
the back of his mind, he'd be thinking about
recreation and ~ow he could ac::omplish

;:Jlecs~ 38'? WATER c.16=