Sioux Falls South Dakota Whitewater Park Proposal

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Sioux Falls Whitewater Park

Sioux Falls, SD

Introduction

A proposed whitewater park in Sioux Falls South Dakota could help the city grow and be known for this great achievement.

The proposed project is estimated to cost less than 1 million dollars to construct and have a 30-year life. Policymakers would be justified in making this investment with public funds as the break-even return to local businesses would be realized within years after construction.

The economic benefit of this project can be conservatively estimated to return approximately 100-500 thousand dollars of private sector economic activity to the local economy each year during the life of the project.

　

Location

Designers will not declare a site right now. The best thing to do is get them on the ground and look at a variety of viable sites. From this investigation they can determine where it is that they can create a park with the most economic and recreational impact and the least amount of negative impacts.

　

Legacy Park

Parking already available




.59 - .7 miles




In-channel




Skunk Creek




No obstructions in Creek




Viewable from banks

Dunham Park

Parking already available




.58 miles




In-channel




Skunk Creek




No obstructions in creek




Viewable from banks

Legacy Park to Dunham Park

Parking already available on both ends




1.5 – 2.0 miles




In-channel




Skunk Creek




No obstructions in creek




Viewable from banks

Down Stream Falls Park

Parking already available




.7 – 1.2 miles




In-channel




Big Sioux River




Possible low head dam removal needed




Viewable from banks

Big Sioux

Location may change after site visit




Viewable from banks

　

Uses

Kayaking

Canoeing

Tubing

Areas would be safe enough for tubing




Less expensive to enjoy the rapids

Rafting




Riverboarding




Paddle Boarding




Fishing

Rapids provide more oxygen in water which fish need to survive




Eddies between the rapids make pools of water for fish to be located

Training

Water rescue training




Boy Scout badges




Kayak/Canoe safety

Viewing

The view of whitewater can be relaxing




Sound of the whitewater can be relaxing




Picnic tables to enjoy the whitewater park users

Events and Water Quality

Freestyle events




Slalom events




Races




Soapbox boat races




Improves water quality by getting more oxygen levels in water




Waterway cleanups for river and river banks




Gets people of all ages involved in the environment and water sports

　

Difficulty

The course would contain small ripples for the tubers all the way to class IV rapids for the more skilled paddler.

(On a scale of I to VI; one being a river with small ripples, six being a waterfall)

Safety

Training

Water Rescue can train in rapids




Pool sessions held by SDCKA for safety training




Boy Scouts do whitewater safety training for badges

Flooding

Designs has a FEMA no-rise restrictions




Designs go through USACE 404 process in order to determine impacts of the project




Designs work within the rivers existing morphology




Designers do studies to ensure that it is possible in light of constraint associated with the river, region, and permitting authorities




Studies will be completed with a site visit and conceptual design study

Injuries have not been recorded and courts have ruled that cities would not be liable if there were

　

Cost

Site Visit and Conceptual Design

S2O $13,800.00 (Proposal attached)




REP $14,000.00 (estimated)(Proposal must be requested by City Parks & Recreation)




Includes site visit




Meeting with city, stakeholders, investors, and SDCKA




Analysis on river




Design of park




Estimated construction cost




Both companies would work within budget

Building and Constructing Whitewater Park

Will know more after site visit with chosen designer group and they prepare plan, design, and cost proposal.




Low End $100,000.00




High End $750,000.00

Funding

Sources of funding

Donations

Friends




Family




Kayakers/Canoeist




Local Business’s (Manta reports 17,052 companies in Sioux Falls)




Surrounding city business’s (example: Grand Falls Casino Resort)

Raffles (needs to fill out application 30 days before raffle begins)

Kayak/Canoes




Paddling Gear




Apparel

Fundraising

Events




Sportsman Show




Design kayak/canoe magazine and sell for fundraising




Silent auction on donated items

Private Investors

Individual person




Local Companies




Kayak/Canoe companies

Grants

Land and Water conservation Fund Grant




Community Development Block Grant Program




Recreational Trails Program (RTP)




Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)

Advertising

Can sell advance sponsor spots on whitewater parks web page




Possible to get sponsor name on sign for the whitewater park

Government

State




County




City

Economic Impact

Major events can draw thousands of people, and while total economic impact is hard to estimate, it could easily be millions annually.

Whitewater parks are often viewed as exclusive amusement for a few, but perhaps 90 percent of users aren’t boaters. The vast majority of people who enjoy such parks do so by watching from the shore, or walking and biking nearby.

Whitewater paddlers contribute a significant amount of money to local economies. Through spending money on gas, food, lodging and other items paddlers provide revenue to rural communities. This side effect of whitewater recreation is typically welcomed in these communities and comes at a very low cost, since the towns do not need to market rivers, and since a moderate level of paddling requires little to no investment in infrastructure or services. American Whitewater often shares economic data with communities and managers when river access is either being proposed or challenged in an area, in an effort to show tangible benefits of supporting whitewater recreation.

Many rural communities are suffering economic woes because of shifting economic factors that drive industry. Natural resource extraction has seldom been managed at a sustainable pace. Paddling represents one part of a changing economy in many mountain areas - a change from resource extraction and industrial economies to a tourism based economy. Oftentimes, paddlers visit areas overlooked by other groups, and in times of the year when other tourism is greatly reduced. These factors can make paddlers' contribution to local economies even more important.

One of the best ways for paddlers to encourage river stewardship in the communities that we travel to is through their spending patterns. Paddlers can maximize their economic and social benefit to river communities through spending money in those communities, and specifically in locally owned businesses, rather than filling up gas tanks and buying meals in outlying areas. Spending money in these communities shows local residents a tangible economic benefit associated with river conservation and access, since paddlers prefer rivers that are legally accessible and that have good water quality and natural scenery. American Whitewater encourages all paddlers to have positive social, environmental, and economic effects wherever they travel.

Several studies have measured or predicted the economic impacts of whitewater recreation on local and regional economies. We have collected these studies and have summarized the findings, as well as provided direct links to these studies whenever possible. Most studies have mostly or completely overlooked private boaters in their study designs; however this does not indicate that private boaters do not have significant economic influences.

Out of city revenue

Hotel rentals




Gas sales




Camp ground rentals




Restaurant/bar sales




Grocery store sales




Retail sales




Retailers can sell whitewater apparel and products




Events bringing in out of city/state people




Parks and recreation

In city revenue

Retailers can sell whitewater apparel and products




Money will go into the city instead of traveling out of state for whitewater park and giving money to other cities/states




Could add jobs to the community




Business opportunity for training and selling/renting equipment

　

Designer Options

S2O Design

Scott Shipley M.S, P.E., Engineering Design, 303-819-3985,

scott@s2odesign.com

Christina Hinton Design and Engineering, 303-808-3238,

chinton@s2odesign.com

REP – Recreational Engineering and Planning

Shane Sigle, P.E, Design and Engineering, 303-545-5883,

shane@boaterparks.com

Existing and Proposed Parks

So far, 132 whitewater parks are either built or are being created across the country. Below are some examples of existing and proposed whitewater parks with different features.

Existing Parks

:

Charles City Whitewater Park, Charles City, IA, Riverfront Park on Cedar River, Population 7,544. Cost $366,120.00, in-channel .5 miles with 3 wave locations. Designer is REP. Studies have not been done but suggested economic impact of $833,400 with visitors and events. Local businesses have had an increase in a sale and there have been more out of state license plates in the park parking lot.




Wausau Whitewater, Wausau WI, Wisconsin River, White Water Park downtown, Population 39,213. Cost unknown built in 1974. Course designed by Dewey Ewers. Bypass Channel .35 miles 13 wave locations. Wausau Whitewater Park has been said to bring in 1.8 million for championships and events at the park stated by Darien Schaefer Executive Director December 2012. The park is only open about 8 weekends a year because the water needs to be released into the park.




Clear Creek White Water Park, Golden CO, Lions Park, Clear Creek, Population 19,035. Cost $170,000. In-channel .25 miles with 10-14 wave locations. Designer REP. Puts out more than $1.4 million per year into the economy.




Vail’s Whitewater Park, Vail, CO, Gore Creek, International Bridge in Vail Village, Population 5,270, Cost $130,000. In-channel .1 miles with 1 wave location. Designer REP.　 Puts out more than $1 million per year into the economy.




Truckee River Whitewater Park, Reno, NV, Truckee River, Downtown resort area, Population 227,511. Cost $1.5 million. In-channel .5 miles 11 wave locations. Designer REP. An estimated 1.9 million pumped into the economy each year.




Brennan Wave, Missoula, MT, Caras Park, Clark Fork River, Population. Cost$360,000, In-channel 1 wave location. Designer is S2O. Estimated $1 million in economic impact.

Proposed Parks

:

Rapid Creek Whitewater Park, Rapid City, SD, Sioux Park to Executive Golf Course, on Rapid Creek, Population 69,200. Cost roughly $414,000.00. In-channel 1.2 miles long with 7-9 wave locations. Designer is REP.




Tulsa Whitewater Park, Tulsa, OK, River Parks on Arkansas River, Population 396,466. Cost not available since still in early stages of planning and designing.　 Out-of-Channel-Diversion 500 feet long. Designer McLaughlin Group. Economic impact not available but estimated around $1 million.




Oklahoma City Whitewater Park, Oklahoma City, OK, Downtown (Brick Town), Population 591,967. Cost $25 million. Pumped Olympic Style Park. Will be Olympic and professional training facility. Designer Scott S2O. Estimated economic impact of $28.8 million.




Kearney Whitewater Park, Kearney, NE, Platte River, Yanney Park, Population 31,174. Cost $300,000 if city donates equipment. In Channel 2 miles long with 6-12 wave locations. Designer McLaughlin Group. Estimated economy impact unknown.




Manchester Water Park, Manchester, Iowa, Maquoketa River, Population 5,148. Cost 1.6 million. Construction is scheduled to start fall of 2013. In Channel .12 miles long with 5-6 wave locations. Designer REP. Bringing in about 600 thousand a year estimated.




Sioux Falls Whitewater Park, Sioux Falls, SD, Location-(to be announced), Population 156,592. Cost (to be announced) (to be announced). Type (to be announced). Designers (to be announced)(either REP or S2O), Estimated impact (to be announced)


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Preparing Scouting the Big Sioux River at Falls Park Sioux Falls South Dakota

Some friends and me decided we are going to attempt some of Falls Park either this year or next year once we feel we have braces and rolls down. In the mean time to save time when we are ready, we decided to scout out the Falls Park in downtown Sioux Falls South Dakota. Our first step is to get a map or pictures of the area to see what parts we want to attempt. We figured using Google Maps would be a good top view to see where we can start and end. I have attached pitcures that we got to see what drops we want and where to start. In the next few blogs we will go over who we plan on contacting so the police and park employees know what is going on.

As you may have noticed this part of the Big Sioux River flows northbound. The starting point would be on the bottom left part of the picture. This is a overhead dam but should be a good place to start above it. Towards the middle we will want to take pictures of this first section of rapids and depths of pool on the end of rapids to know if we need to roll or not. We will take a long pole with measurements on the pole to find out the depth and use usgs site to know the height and flow rate of the river. As we take measurement we will keep it posted on here. Between the middle rapids and the top of the phot is a nother set of rapids that we will measure and see how sharp of a turn it is.

In this photo I added the last set of rapids from the previous picture. Between the bottom and center of the picture is a little set of rapids we will measure just in case it gets more intense with higher water levels. In the center is a pretty good set of rapids with some little drops going into a larger pool of water where we can get set up in the eddy's for the next set of rapids.

Going through the larger pool there will be some rocks to avoid and maybe there will be more rapids in this area with higher waters. We wont know more until we scout the place take some depth measurements and pictures. Now to the fun part. Down from the bridge in the center of the photo is the first really good drop it can be anywhere from 3 feet to 6 feet drop. This goes into another larger pool of water where we can exit if we wish or keep going.

On this one I just wanted to focus on the center rapids and the pool after it. Seems like some minor drops but still fun for the area. The pool will be the biggest item that we wants to scout because this will be the second to last option we have to get out before the large 15 foot drop.

Center of the picture shows the last rapid before the large drop. If water is swift and not able to get out on the last rapids. This is the last chance to get out and it might be difficult. The reason we dont want to go over the 15 foot waterfall the first time is so we can get used to the rest of the area and so we do more research on the bottom of the waterfall. On the American Whitewater site someone stated there are a lot of loose rocks at the bottom of the waterfall and can do a lot of damage so we will want to keep a close eye on this and the levels.

If we do decide to hit the waterfall we want to make sure we do the perfect poof at the bottom to avoid the rocks and be able to make a quick left turn into the next eddy and pool. Towards the center of the page will be a nice quick drop but it will shoot you right into a rock wall unless the water swoops you the other direction. This bottom section would be a nice shoot to hit up.

Here is a better picture of the shoot right before you go under the walking bridge. If/When we go through this part we will have to flow downstream past the small lowhead dam and closer to the upcoming bridge to get out.
Below are larger images to give you an idea how large the area is. This is a class V section at about .8 miles. Should take about 20 minutes to do the full Falls Park.

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Pool Session YWCA Sioux Falls SD 4-7-13 Kayak Training

Last pool session of the year went really well.  We had ten poeple show up so it was just $10.00 bucks a person for two hours. We had practice at the normal place, YWCA Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I have attached some videos that I took with the GoPro Hero 3 Silver. I borrowed it from a family member to see if I liked it. I would have had more videos but I didnt read the instructions and it froze on me a quarter through the session. We had 5 whitewater kayaks this time around and even a smaller Wavesport playboat. It was a good session because all five whitewater kayaks got the roll completed a few times. We even had some fun sinking the playboat (video below). This was our last pool session since it should be warming up so now we can practice braces, rolls, and spin outs.

Here below are the some of the videos taken that day.

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Pool Session YWCA Sioux Falls SD 3-17-13 Kayak Training

We decided to rent the pool at the YWCA for friends and other SDCKA members to join us kayaking. Here is a video of us doing some rolls we learned that weekend. I think the pool sessions are a great safe environment to learn safety and rolls. The next pool session we have is 4-7-13 and we should have about 12 people coming. We rent it out for 2 hours which cost us $100.00, we try to get around 10 people there so it only cost about $10.00 a person, which is well worth it. I will hopefully have video and pictures of our activities. One of the members of the group do wet exits swim to the bottom of the 10 foot deep pool, comes back up and reenters his kayak, he finishes up by rolling back above water. Will keep you posted.

 

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Klondike Dam Sioux Falls, SD 925 CFS 4-3-13 “A Little Whitewater Kayaking”

The old Klondike Dam known by many fishermen near Canton SD was removed this winter and replaced with 9 arched boulder rapids. These rapids are made to help fish pass through farther up the river and help maintain a higher level of water above the dam for low depth wells. Iowa decided to remove dam when a few years back damage was done to it and water was flowing under the dam on the Iowa side. Project completed March of 2013 with 400 metric tons of rock and a price tag over $850,000.00. Funding was supposedly 50% FEMA, 30% I-Jobs, 20% F & W Grants.

The new rock dams drop roughly 13 feet within 225 feet. When we Dan and I first got there we scouted out the place to see the best spot to get in and end. Our first view under the closed bridge at the end of the rapids got us a little frightened we didn’t expect that big of waves and holes. We decided it would be best to take the far west said on the South Dakota side. At the beginning of the rapids there is a small island I started on the west side of the island going over some tree branches that have floated down and got caught in the first set of rocks. As the video attached you can see I kept mainly to the west side and it took about 30 seconds to make it through the rapids. There were some fun waves about 2 feet tall. I hit a few rocks on the way down but more at the beginning at the first couple of rock arches.

The second time down Dan decided to come with me and we also made the decision we were going to try to middle of the rapids because the waves seemed a little bit bigger. We started on the west side about 200 feet from the bridge on the South Dakota Side. We actually paddle up river to go around the little island and go down the river on the east side (Iowa side). This actually worked out perfect because it placed us dead center of the rapids. We did have to avoid some lodged trees for safety of any strainers. We did not video this one since we were both kayaking it. I would say it took about 30-35 seconds to do this stretch. The waves I would say were 4 feet at the end which were amazing. The water was cold on our face but luckily we were dressed with dry top, john wetsuit, scuba boots, paddle gloves and skirt so only our faces got cold. It was a good roller coast ride and didn’t hit any rocks. When we got done a prospector actually said he took video and is willing to send it to us so hopefully will be getting that soon. I would recommend this to anyone that has a beginner to intermediate skill in whitewater kayaking and bracing. A skirt, helmet, and throw bag is a must (for best safety). I would not attempt this with a recreational kayak do to water over flowing kayak. We found out that the water at this time was 925 CFS at 4:30PM 4-3-13. The weather was great the sun was shining and it was about 60 degrees. It was windy that day but down by the old Klondike Dam it was not windy at all. I will keep an eye on the CFS flow rate and if it gets above 925 again I will hopefully have another story with pictures and video.

Video of me going down Klondike Mill Dam!!

Here are some online links for more interesting information on the Klondike Mill Dam in the Big Sioux River.

New Century Press >> Dam demolition http://www.ncppub.com/pages/?p=5240

BIG SOUX RIVER – US Department of the interior http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/upload/Iowa-Big-Sioux-River-Final.pdf

Klondike Mill Dam – Iowa Whitewater Coalition http://www.iowawhitewater.org/lhd/LHDklondike.html

Northwest Iowa dam replaced with rocks http://www.careersatquincy.com/story/21812235/2013/03/27/northwest-iowa-dam-replaced-with-rocks-klondike-dam

The 2010 River Dam Inventory – Iowa Department of Natural Resources http://www.iowadnr.gov/portals/idnr/uploads/riverprograms/dam_chap2.pdf

Northwest Iowa dam replaced with rocks – KTIV News 4 Sioux City http://www.ktiv.com/story/21812235/2013/03/27/northwest-iowa-dam-replaced-with-rocks-klondike-dam

IOWA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOUCRES http://www.iowadnr.gov/Portals/idnr/uploads/Natural%20Resource%20Commission/2012-11-08%20NRC%20ai.pdf

(Pages 40-43 for Klondike Mill Dam information)

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