Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

Flipit wrote:

Big Daddy D wrote:[Go on Paddle Texas... ...and try to clear your name.

Wait... what? How would you... Huh? Splane to me how that would work!

Cowper wrote: is there any chance you can influence a competing station or newspaper to tell the other side of the story?

In Support of the Dallas Whitewater Park

I am a long time boater from Arkansas, who has been following with interest the building of the Dallas Whitewater Park (DWP), and looking forward to the day I could visit it.

I was dismayed to see a very one-sided report on the DWP on WFAA news. Somehow they located a relatively new kayaker to interview, and then referred to him as “one of the few who dares ride these waves.” Nothing could be further from the truth. There are hundreds of kayakers, canoeists, tubers, and other water enthusiasts who would flock to this park, including some like myself who would come to Dallas from other states, except that shortly after it was opened, the city closed it. My understanding was that the initial closure was due to ongoing construction in the area which made it an unsafe construction zone, not an unsafe river.

The kayaker in question has even logged in to our Arkansas Canoe Club web site, to apologize to us and to let us know that he didn’t want the park closed. In fact, let me quote what he told us about his interview with the news crew: “I was just going for a paddle and got flooded with cameras. Out of a 45 min interview they took out one line about the canoe bypass and spun it.”

They also found and interviewed a woman who said “If I had to be there another minute, I might have not been able to fight back to the surface, even with the life preserver”. I’m sure that this statement is a true account of what she was feeling at the time, but that does not make it true. Designers of whitewater parks are very aware of how river hydraulics work, and know that they must be designed so that a swimmer is NOT held under for more than a few seconds. Some people panic when their head unexpectedly goes underwater for even a few seconds, as in learning to swim or when they fall off a boat. It does not follow from this fact that lakes or swimming pools too dangerous to allow public access; similarly, the fact that one or two people may experience momentary panic when floating through the DWP is not a just cause for closure to all.

There have also been concerns expressed that the boat channel bypass is “too rough” for some canoes to pass. Canoeists come in all varieties; some like whitewater, some like only moving water, and some do not care for anything beyond lakes and ponds. However, this is not a cause for an expensive “fix” to the DWP boat channel. The solution is simple – construct a sidewalk so that those who do not want to run their boat through a few waves have the option of carrying their boat a short distance around the drop. This is no more difficult than carrying the boat from the car or truck down to the launch site, and allows those who want only a gentle downriver float to easily bypass the waves entirely while still enjoying the rest of the river.

So for safety and peace of mind, a sidewalk may be needed, if there is not already one there. There should be a few signs to require floaters to wear life jackets, and to recommend appropriate safety gear for kayakers, just as many skateboard parks require helmets. But there is no need for total re-engineering or massive expenditures to “fix” the park. And I would especially urge you to not hire any engineering firm that does not have an extensive resume of prior whitewater park design experience. To do so only risks destroying the potential of this park.

This whitewater park is no more dangerous to boaters, than a bike trail is to bikers or a jogging trail to joggers. Please don’t cut Dallas off from the tourism and other benefits this project could provide; please reconsider your position and reopen the Dallas Whitewater Park!