​HEALTHY RIVERS
WHITEWATER PARK​

Protecting the flow of your Roaring Fork River

HELP PROTECT RIVER FLOWS!

Become a citizen steward by sharing photos or videos of your Pitkin County Healthy Rivers Whitewater Park experience to #RICDfundial on Facebook or Instagram. 

Did you know that every time you use the park you help us maintain a massive water right that is critical to the future health of the Roaring Fork River? Whether you enjoy surfing the waves, or a peaceful moment by the water, it’s a terrific way to give back to your river!

A WHITEWATER PARK THAT
​PROTECTS YOUR RIVER!

In consideration of increasing demand on our water resources, and the potential impacts of climate change, Pitkin County Healthy Rivers has advanced a community plan to implement a Recreational In-Channel Diversion (RICD).  The RICD is a water right that confers to Pitkin County the right to call water down the Roaring Fork to the whitewater park site, located just upstream from the Roaring Fork's confluence with the Fryingpan River.

In order to call water, Pitkin County was required to install in-stream diversion structures (wave features) that put the water to beneficial use. In the case of this RICD, that beneficial use is recreation (wave surfing) at the whitewater park.

Of course, there are many other important benefits to the RICD keeping water in the river. It secures a future that keeps seasonal flows in the Roaring Fork, maintains healthy river ecology, adds to our diverse recreational resources, and creates an opportunity for citizens of Basalt, Pitkin County, and the entire Roaring Fork community to discuss and plan new ways to enjoy our beloved river. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE
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PITKIN COUNTY RICD WATER RIGHT

BOAT ​SAFE!

Keep in mind that the park is unsupervised and requires skill and equipment to enjoy safely. Personal floatation devices are required, and we strongly recommend wearing a helmet and cold-water clothing.We also recommend scouting the waves before running them. This winter’s modifications created new ways to bypass the waves, but they should always be approached as powerful hydraulics that change with the river’s flow. If in doubt, get out and SCOUT!

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 ACCESS & SCOUTING 

The best place to scout the waves is from the whitewater park access path along Two-Rivers Road. Down-river boaters can scout by eddying out at the Fisherman’s Park boat ramp. The ramp is on river right immediately after the Highway 82 bridge. From Fisherman’s Park, take a short walk down Two Rivers Road to get a good look at the waves. Please respect the park’s neighbors by accessing and scouting the waves from the Two Rivers Road (river-right) side ONLY. There is NO public access to the whitewater park from Emma Road (river-left) side of the river.

HISTORY OF THE PARK

Public planning
Late 2015 - Early 2016

​A series of public planning meetings was held to gather public input on the project. The meetings helped determine the stream-side amenities that will eventually accompany the two whitewater features planned for the park.


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Wave construction
Late 2016 - Early 2017​

​Between September 2016 and March 2017, two splashy, fun play waves were constructed in the river. The whitewater park and the RICD (Recreational In-channel Diversion) water right it represents were officially dedicated on June 30, 2017. A raft carrying the 5-member Pitkin County Board of Commissioners was the first "official" craft to bust through the new features. Thankfully, they didn't flip! 

Wave modifications
Early 2018​

Pitkin County performed maintenance on the Healthy Rivers Whitewater Park in February and early March 2018. The primary purpose of the maintenance was to make improvements to downriver boat passage. The left wing of each wave feature was modified to create a route at flows above 2,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) that bypasses the main hydraulic formed by each feature. 

Wave modifications
Early 2020

Healthy Rivers made further modifications to the  whitewater park to accomodate those who felt the waves were too difficult to navigate at high water.
The goal was to strike a better balance between the fun surfability of the waves and their high-water navigability. The waves can now be bypassed on both sides at high water.

WHAT'S IN A WAVE?
​WATCH AND FIND OUT!

We documented the original 2016-2017 construction of the whitewater park through a series of videos.

8/24/2016

9/1/2016

9/23/2016

9/30/2016

10/5/2016

10/20/2016

12/5/2016

12/12/2016

1/9/2017

2/2/2017

3/15/2017

6/5/2017

​We also video documented the 2020 wave modifications:

1/14/2020

2/20/2020

3/18/2020

6/4/2020