Confronted about building a wave feature

[Cabra Loca 87]

I live in Northeast Texas and have been contacted by the new city administrator about the possibility of a new wave feature being built at our local city lake. I know there are several members that have been involved with processes like this and would like some information to provide the city administrator. Design possibilities, websites showing previous projects, etc. I would appreciate any feedback you may have.

Thanks,

Reese

[Cadron Boy]

A lot of stuff out there -- but it really all begins with grabbing a couple of Luna Leopold books such as "Fluvial Processes in Geomorpholgy" or "A View of the River" or "Water, Rivers and Creek" simply to better appreciate the movement and power of water.

There is no one way to construct a wave. In fact each has to be individually tested and refined often "as you go" for a lot of us simply don't have access to a simulator -- moreover even the best simulator fails to fully represent conditions found in the river. One firm is now pushing "The Wave Shaper" -- a huge concrete contraption housing louvers of metal covered in vulcanized rubber -- in which it can be altered as needed depending on river conditions and wave characteristics that are desired. Obviously it is not natural in any way -- but no permanent wave structure is as permanency can only be attained if the fixture is fixed to the river bed and the river bed above and below the feature is stable over time.

But what catches my eye most with your post is the comment that the proposed wave feature is at our city "lake" -- does this means pumps and water troughs will have to be built as well?

[Cabra Loca 87]

The design would have to involve pumps to recirculate water back into the lake once it passes through a phlume into a smaller pool which already exists for the city water supply. Im not sure how far this would ever really get with a smaller town, but would like to provide whatever information I could for the small chance something may turn up.

[Heath]

ok you got my attention, first which lake, and what kind of gradient do you have to work with. second is who is pushing this, and what kid of funding. i live in texarkana, and was involved with dierks on both ocasions. i would love to make a trip over and take a look at whats there!!

[Cowper]

I would also suggest getting in touch with Fish. He did some good research a few years back, focused on pumping costs for a smaller system, so that might be a good match that would be within the bounds of what a smaller city might be willing to tackle.

[Heath]

cooper, is dead on with Fish as well. lots of good info there. seams like there was a lot of talk about something like this a few years back on the paddle texas board. seams like it was somewhere on the north east side of Dallas that they were going to try and use.

[Cabra Loca 87]

In case you want to see the area they are looking at:

On google maps look up Mt Vernon, TX
Find where Hwy 37 and I-30 intersect
Follow south until you see "Mt Vernon Municipal Reservoir" just to the east of Hwy 37
The small white buildings on the North side of the lake would be the area

Again this is just an idea the new city administrator had and asked if I knew much about previous cities' similar projects
Mt Vernon is a small town of about 2,500 people so I would be surprised if anything resulted
If this project gets off the ground I would like to provide contact info for anyone interested in helping.
Mt Vernon is an hour west of Texarkana and an hour and a half east of Dallas.

Thanks,

Reese