You never step into the same river twice, and that will especially be true if kayak enthusiasts build a whitewater play park somewhere down valley.

They say San Miguel River will be changed for the better: a funner, healthier river.
“It’s a good thing that this community could definitely use,” says Kevin Younger, an avid kayaker.

But some concerned environmentalists worry it will be changed for the worse.

“We’ve got to take care of these resources, without loving them to death,” says Pam Lifton-Zoline, a member of the San Miguel Watershed Coalition.

The desire for a play park has reached county commissioners and the Bureau of Land Management, who own different parts of the San Miguel River and its banks.

The San Miguel Whitewater Association would like to build a down valley park with three features — two for experienced kayakers and one for beginners — by dropping in big rocks and securing them with anchors and mortar. This would create holes and waves and eddies where kayakers and boaters can spin, surf and loop.

The park could cost an estimated $180,000, said Bob Gleason, president of the SMWA, which could be paid by fundraising and grants.

The SMWA is working to increase support for a park, and to win over those who worry about messing with mother nature.

Last week, they approached the county commissioners about building the park near the down valley park known as Applebaugh. They say the benefits of a park far outweigh the drawbacks.

Kayaker Chris Jaquet, for one, is looking for a few good holes to torpedo. Right now, he has to drive at least an hour to find a good spot, either near Dolores, Ridgway, or all the way in Salida or Durango.

“This way, you’d have somewhere to go with your friends that’s close,” says Jaquet.
The commissioners seemed to support the idea of a place for water sports, but suggested another location down river, at a spot called Caddis Flats, also known as Winnebago Corners.

“I’m supportive of a water park but I don’t think Applebaugh is the right spot,” says county commissioner Art Goodtimes. “I’m working toward trying to find a place.”

Kayakers say Applebaugh makes more sense because, a) it’s closer to town, b) there’s a pond there where kayakers could practice their Eskimo rolls, and, c) boaters could bring their families and kids and let them play on the nearby fields.

Wherever it might end up, Goodtimes and commissioner Joan May both say they wanted to hear more about the environmental impacts a park might have.

“It’s got to matched with the restoration of the river,” Goodtimes says.

“If you’re just putting some rocks in a river I don’t know that it would be much environmental impact,” says May. “But if you’re putting it in with riprap (rock installed to prevent erosion) and cement, I don’t know.

“I think an engineer has to be engaged in this and look at the actual site,” May says. “I would think that would be the first step.”

When you drop big rocks into a river, it changes the way the river flows. Kayakers say that’s a good thing. It will create eddies and pools where bugs will linger and fish can feed. And it reduces erosion, they say.

“The eddies you create slow the current, and when you slow the current that reduces bank erosion,” says Gleason, the SMWA president. “For the riparian rehabilitation it would be something that would reduce the erosion.”

Others aren’t sure.

“If you create pools, it might be good for fish but it also will create sediment,” says May. “I’m sure it would change the river but we don’t know how.”

“From the ones that I’ve seen,” says Linda Luther, the county’s open space director, “you end up with a lot of concrete. … You end up with a significant hardscape.”

And near Applebaugh, Luther says, the county has already spent significant money and effort repairing the river banks.

In an era when many people consider air pollution and climate change the world’s biggest threat, kayakers like to stress that building a play park close to the county’s population center, Telluride, will cut down on driving and emissions.

“The worst part of being a kayaker is all the driving,” says Younger. “It’s a lot of miles to put on your car but also it’s a lot of gas.”

Other towns that have built play parks have seen them bring tourists. Chaffee County has two.

“They’ve proven to be very popular both in Salida and in Buena Vista,” says Rob White, park manager of the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area.

Mike Harvey, project manager for Recreation Engineering and Planning, the company that designed the Salida play park, says the park has been an unmitigated success.

“It’s been wildly successful for our community,” both economically and environmentally, said Harvey. The river, once a straight shot through town without eddies for fish or features for kayakers, now hosts fishers, boaters and plant diversity.

But: “Every river’s different,” Harvey cautions. “There is no cookie cutter solution to anybody’s river. So just because it worked in Salida doesn’t necessarily mean it would work in San Miguel County.”