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AW Studies Recreational Water Needs for Colorado River

Posted: 07/02/2008
By: Nathan Fey

How much water is necessary to sustain kayaking and rafting on the Upper Colorado River?

How do changes to flow in the Colorado River impact private kayakers and commercial rafters on our favorite stretches between Kremmling and Glenwood Springs, CO? American Whitewater is working with Federal, State, and local agencies in a collaborative process to protect the Outstandingly Remarkable recreational opportunities on sections of the Upper Colorado River managed by the US Bureau of Land Management. To ensure that recreation interests have a say in the review and revision of the BLM's Resource Management Plan for the Glenwood Springs and Kremmling Field Offices, American Whitewater is working to identify river flows necessary to protect kayaking, rafting, and float-fishing from future water development, and resource management objectives.

 

American Whitewater is collecting data on flow preferences from private and commercial boaters, that will give AW and it's stakeholders in the planning process a better understanding of the range of flows needed to support whitewater recreation on the Colorado River.


Our focus in the comercial rafting survey is on identifying low, acceptable, and optimum flows for whitewater rafting experiences. The information we collect will provide us with data necessary to protect flows necessary to support the thriving commercial rafting industry on the Colorado River, and propose any necessary modifications to the Bureau of Land Management Resource Management Plan alternatives.

This is your chance to provide AW with an understanding of your flow preferences for the Colorado River. The more responses we get the more useful our results will be. We will publish results of this survey as part of our report on the Upper Colorado River Protection Project. The report will be made available for the benefit of paddlers with an interest in recreational opportunities on the Colorado river.

 

To participate in American Whitewater's Commercial Rafting Flow Preferences Survey, Click Here!

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