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. .: .'. .. . physical criteria, recreation activities have certain physical or absolute limits or requirements which must be met (i.e., a boat requires a certain minimum depth of water to float). In the case of safety criteria there are no absolutes; however, it can generally be stated that certain depths or velocities may be unsafe for the average parti- cipant. Safety criteria may also be considered a preferred physical limitation. ;.:: ::':~~': Optimum Criteria Minimum and maximum criteria are used to establ ish the range of <jepths and velocities which provide a usable surface area for river recreationists. It is also possible to identify a preferred depth or velocity or range of preferred depths and velocities which could be called optimum. Obviously, optimum wi 11 not be agreed upon by all recreat i oni sts si nce they represent such a heterogeneous group. How- ever, the total range can be narrowed and a preferred range established. An optimum value of depth or velocity or a preferred range of depths and velocities will be that value or range of values which is usable to the largest number of potential participants. There are "psycho 1 ogi ca 1" cri teri a that also mi ght be used for selecting optimum depths or velocities. Psychological criteria relate to the quality of the experi ence. However, in order to evaluate the quality of the experience, one must determine what experience is sought. A number of the recreation activities included in this report have expectations that appear to be unrelated to flow. Therefore, for such activities only the physical and safety criteria need to be considered. Other activities have flow-related expectations and it appears that the experi ence desired and expected should be a part of the cri teri a. According to Schreyer and Nelson (1978) the "white water" activities, have an "act i on-exci tement" expectation, and certai n types of water are necessary to real i ze that expectati on. Stream depths and/or vel ocit i es which produce action-excitement are not easily identified because of the differing skill levels and experience of recreationists. Consequently, psychological criteria, in terms of depth or velocity, are not listed at this time. The activities which have action and excitement as an expectation are the last four activities listed under boating (below). However, not all of the persons who engage in these activities seek action and excitement. Therefore, a wide range of optimum velocity values is necessary to include the action excitement expectation as well as the other expectations. Each of these four activities may be viewed as two separate activities, one which occurs on tranquil water and one which occurs on non-tranquil water. :':';::,:,;. 9