Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Thursday lifted a closure of the Arkansas River north of Salida following a month-long closure to remove a diversion dam that posed a risk to rafters and kayakers for years.
The river was re-opened as crews finished removing the dam and an adjacent boat chute.
Final clean-up work along the banks should be completed sometime this week.
“We are happy to announce the river is open again, weeks sooner than expected,” stated Tom Waters, CPW’s park manager for the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, in a press release.
The low-head dam was first built in 1956 for the purpose of sending water to CPW’s Mount Shavano State Fish Hatchery a mile and a half downstream. It was rebuilt in 1987 with the addition of the boat chute.
But the hatchery stopped using the river’s water in 2000 after whirling disease was detected in it. Whirling disease is a parasite that deforms and kills young trout. CPW spent $1.5 million at the hatchery to convert its source to clean spring water.
Since 2010, three people have died at the dam. Water spilling over its head accelerates along the concrete surface and turns into a spinning, churning pool at the bottom. This creates a “hydraulic” in rafting terms, a feature which can capsize and trap boaters and swimmers.
“By removing the dam, we have eliminated a deadly threat to the thousands who boat on this popular stretch of the Arkansas River each year,” Waters said.
Removing the dam should also enhance life for the Arkansas’s trout population by easing migration and spreading out the population more evenly along this stretch of river, CPW added.
The river was closed between the bridge at Chaffee County 166 and the Salida Boat Ramp during the project.
The Chaffee County Board of County Commissioners approved $100,000 toward the $1.1 million removal effort, according to CPW.
All photos are courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Pic1: This low-head dam was built on the Arkansas River west of Salida in 1956 to provide water to hatcheries. It was rebuilt in 1988 with a boat chute, seen on the right, to provide a safe passage for watercraft. Still, the dam was a deadly hazard. Colorado Parks and Wildlife removed the dam with help from its partners the Chaffee County Board of County Commissioners.
Pic2: Photo shows the dam prior to the start of demolition in October.
Pic3: Crews started by sealing off the boat chute and using excavators to remove the chute structure, creating a smooth river bottom so the Arkansas River could be diverted through it.
Pic4: Then crews built a dam to channel the main flow of the river through the old chute so excavators could begin breaking up the dam.
Pic5: Finally, the dam was removed and rock structures were placed in the river channel to slow water flow and create fish habitat. The structures are visible from the aerial photos.
Pic6 & 7: The Arkansas River now flows unobstructed into Salida. Crews will continue to clean up the river banks over the coming days.
