Colorado River's Big Sur

Is a standing wave that only occurs when the flow rate gets above 20,000 cfs.

It has been at about 30,000 cfs recently.

DenverPost reports: Once-in-a-generation wave continues in Debeque Canyon

With waves surging to nearly head high, strong surfers can ride the never-ending wave nonstop for more than an hour on uncrowded days.

[via AdventureJournal]

The article mentions a person who has made the 4-hour round-trip from Vail four times this month.

Message boards indicate people from Utah and Montana are making the trip to experience this wave. Even a person in Connecticut is going west to surf in the Colorado River.

This kind of dedication is why a whitewater park in downtown Traverse City seems like a great idea.

Yampa River, Downtown Steamboat Springs

Photo by John F. Russell

Water rolls over Charlie’s Hole on the Yampa River in front of Bud Werner Memorial Library. The hole is a popular spot for local kayakers this time of year, and has become a draw for swimmers and people who enjoy being around water in summer.

Boardman River, downtown Traverse City


Via wikipedia

Doesn't look like a blue ribbon trout stream to me.

The Steamboat library sits at the edge of downtown and patrons enjoy watching the kayakers and fly anglers as they read. And this one river with its quasi-whitewater park brings $7.2 million to the Steamboat Springs economy each year.

In Traverse City we do a decent job of hiding the Boardman River in concrete and parking lots.

The Boardman deserves better.

The Few, The Proud, The Cold Weather Surfers

People who surf the Great Lakes in the winter are different. They are fanatical. They are obsessive. Or as the Lake County News Chronicle from Two Harbors says "the fanatics from the Superior Surf Club who will drop everything to catch good waves". (See: Catching a cold wave)

And this is the value in establishing a whitewater/surf park downtown on the Boardman River. It would create a year-round downtown destination for people from all over the midwest who were in search of getting their wave fix.

This is why I support the Traverse City Whitewater Park.

Why Not Whitewater?

Traverse City Whitewater has a page at Facebook now. Join it. A recent posting indicates they are just about to form a non-profit but need board members and volunteers.

I recently read an article that pointed out how something as simple as a single standing wave can make a city a destination. See MIL: Surfing In Munich

Here's a video from this park in Munich. Why not Traverse City? Look at the crowds watching these people surf. This would be a huge draw for downtown:

Parks

I started this post back in December, and after seeing Gary's post: Do you know where your closest city park is? which includes a map of Traverse City parkland, I decided I should get this wrapped up.

The big news is each Traverse City bay is poised to get revamped parks. The Acme Shoreline Park has a goal of turning one mile of East Bay into a blue mile of beachfront with volleyball courts, a playground, public marina, and open space; all connected to a TART trail spur.

See the Record-Eagle: Shoreline site in Acme to become new park

For West Bay, there is much hope for a completely new bayfront to connect downtown Traverse City to the water.

The new Bayfront Park design was recently revealed. See: bayfront plans are done

The conceptualization hits many highlights for me including a natural play area, an artesian spring and stream, an improved boat launch that will be friendlier to canoes and kayaks, more vegetation, keeping the emergent wetland at the mouth of the Boardman, dark-sky compliant lighting, fish cleaning station, improved access to the park with tunnels, etc.

However, it does appear that this was a great opportunity to develop a dedicated Farmer's Market space in the area but it isn't in the final plans. Also, to make the area more inviting to visitors of all types harness the artesian well in such a way so that boaters and others could fill up their containers with potable water. Much like how travelers stop north of Petoskey on US 31 to fill up with the well by the side of the road there. And I am not sure we need so many roundabouts but that is a topic for another post. You can't have it all I suppose.

I believe a new Bayfront will be a great addition to Traverse City and could serve as a multi-modal hub for the entire region. I hope it gets done. Even better would be tying this in to re-naturalizing the Boardman as it goes through downtown and then tie that into a whitewater park between Cass and Union.

Grand Rapids is trying it. (Grand River as downtown Grand Rapids whitewater course?)

There is a Facebook group for the Traverse City Boardman River Whitewater Park effort.

For more on the Bayfront park see:
TC bayfront plans take a step forward

Bayfront overhaul work could begin in 2011

Next, Traverse City residents clearly want a dog park. Recently in the paper there was this: Dog park project may be in the works

And when Mayor Bzdok made this post: Update for the week of November 29 to December 6 there were many comments from people wanting a dog park.

Not only would an off-leash dog park be good for the dogs but dog-walkers are great to have in the neighborhood. As mentioned in Why dog owners make the best citizens

After dark, the streets fill with dog walkers. A couple per block, at least. In the winter, they're the only people on the streets. Without them, the neighborhood would be lot emptier, and the streets would feel a lot more forbidding. Placing a couple of poodles -- and my neighborhood has a lot of poodles -- on the landscape really does wonders

I have the spot - next to the trail between Oryana and the library. An area some people are calling Old Town Park. My idea is a dog park on one side and let the other side which is already being used by beavers, rabbits, red-winged blackbirds, fox, be allowed to develop naturally. Build a high wall/fence next to the apartments to mitigate noise, though I believe the benefits to those residents having a place to exercise their dog outweighs any negatives.

I like this location because:
- it is centrally located to Traverse City's neighborhoods
- getting dog walkers in this area should help with the graffiti on the Community Sailing building and loitering on the bridge
- Oryana and McGough's should see increased sales of their pet supplies if dog owners are in the area more

And the natural area is important because it will act as a buffer when rail travel returns to the area.

Map (blue line is the park, other line is the natural area):

View Traverse City Dog Park? in a larger map

Finally, parks are great, but without a trail system connecting them (I've heard it described as a "string of pearls") it will not reach its full potential. So I hope that whatever is done is planned with TART so that all of these parks can be reached by non-motorized means.

Additional reading for inspiration:
INFRA: The Best New Urban Parks

NYT: Blueprints for a Better ‘Burb

All For Nothing

One million dollars later and the decision on what happens to the Boardman River Dams is being left to the City of Traverse City and Grand Traverse County.

See:
R-E: No consensus on Boardman River dams

IPR: Dam Decision

Below is an abridged version of the letter I submitted to the Boardman River Dams Project:

My Boardman River Vision

...the most important things for me are to return the River to as natural a state as possible; create additional recreational opportunities; and maintain water level impoundments as best as possible in order to minimize private landowner impacts.

I'll address my vision by working from upstream to downstream.

Brown Bridge Dam
I know that the impoundment behind this dam is a large draw for many people and therefore a complete removal of this dam is not likely. However, since there is space available I would love to see a structure that allows overflowing water but without the dangers of a low-head dam. My vision is reminiscent of the limestone bedrock in southwestern Ohio. There the rivers flow over large limestone "steps" and the effect can be quite stunning. I would love to see this natural feature replicated by a series of wide concrete steps where Brown Bridge Dam currently sits; structures that would retain a pond of some size behind it yet allow water to flow downstream and the migration of fish.

Boardman Dam
Remove or breach Boardman Dam but throw in boulders or a "rock" dam in order to allow fish migration, fast water habitat, rapids for canoeing/kayaking, yet maintain elevated water levels behind the structure to lessen the impact on waterfront property owners. Build a high two-lane bridge for Cass Rd. so that hikers may pass underneath it and along the river.

Sabin Dam
Remove it completely; let this area return to a natural state. Make the reclamation a feature of the GTCD Nature Center.

Union St
At the very least modify the structure to allow salmon and sturgeon to migrate upstream while keeping out lampreys. As a pie-in-the-sky dream, create a whitewater park between Cass Rd and Union St. This would likely become a regional destination as many U.S. cities are recognizing (e.g., Spokane, Des Moines, Flint, Reno, etc) and I've read about the enthusiasm the surf park in downtown Munich, Germany has created. It could also serve as the hub for TART's regional trail network.

Boardman Lake
I think consideration for Boardman Lake should also be part of any dams decision.

It almost seems sad that a river as recognized as the Boardman is forced through undignified steel tunnels under S. Airport Rd. Not only are they ugly but these tunnels make it very difficult to put-in downtown and paddle up the lake to points further upstream. In my case, when canoeing with my dog he refuses to go through the tunnels! Plus, the steel tunnels just are not inviting for paddlers.

I propose to replace the single eastern Boardman River tunnel with a larger and more natural-looking tunnel-like structure. Something that is big enough to allow two paddlers through at a time but low enough to keep out motorboats, And wide enough to allow a spur of TART's Boardman Lake trail to safely pass underneath S. Airport Rd. so that it could eventually connect to the GTCD Nature Preserve.

And to compensate for the slight reduction in nesting areas due to lower water levels further upstream create a no-wake zone along Boardman Lake's western shore area from in front of the Boardman Lake Condominiums south to S. Airport Rd. in the hope that this will allow loons and other waterfowl to find nesting areas.

To conclude, theses are exciting times for the Traverse City area. There is a great opportunity to link the decision on the Boardman River dams with the new Traverse City master plan and the Grand Vision initiative. I hope my ideas are useful.

Boardman River Dams Get Media Attention

Via The Environment Report: To Dam Or Not To Dam