The Route 3 Wave is a well-loved intermediate park-n-play spot on New York’s Black River. It is an urban feature located in Downtown Watertown. A recent proposal to alter the wave to make it a more advanced breaking wave suitable for competitive freestyle kayaking has many local boaters deeply concerned about possibly losing a wave they treasure.
AW has recently gotten involved with this project by talking to many of the key players and drafting comments for distribution to all the stakeholders in the project. It is a tough issue with strong arguments for creating a feature that will bring more people to the river and function at a wider range of flows, and equally strong arguments in opposition of altering an existing river feature. We are working to ensure that any decision will be made through an open, public, and fair process. We are also concerned about maintaining free public access to the site and ensuring that any work done is fully funded, well designed, and is properly completed and maintained.
Read AW’s Letter to the Stakeholders of the Black River’s Route 3 Wave to see our concerns about the project.