[Awclist] [Fwd: RRFW Riverwire - NEW RAPIDS APPEAR NEAR FORMER HITE MARINA]

[Thomas Robey]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	RRFW Riverwire - NEW RAPIDS APPEAR NEAR FORMER HITE MARINA
Date: 	Fri, 18 Mar 2005 10:46:37 -0700
From: 	Riverwire-RRFW <riverwire at rrfw.org>
Reply-To: 	<riverwire at rrfw.org>
Organization: 	River Runners for Wilderness
To: 	riverwire at rrfw.org



RRFW Riverwire - NEW RAPIDS APPEAR NEAR FORMER HITE MARINA

March 18, 2005

Two new rapids have been photographed by a team conducting a 
photographic and Global Positioning System (GPS) reconnaissance of the 
Colorado River in Cataract, Narrow and Glen canyons, which are now 
exposed by drastically reduced water levels at Lake Powell reservoir. 
The bigger of the two rapids, about an eight-foot drop, has been 
informally called Albert Loper Falls to honor a Colorado River boatman 
who once lived in Glen Canyon before inundation by Lake Powell. This new 
rapid is located between North and Farley Canyons, approximately 2 miles 
downstream of the former Hite Marina, now abandoned.

The survey team was comprised of volunteers John Dohrenwend, Albert 
Reichert and John Weisheit in inflatable kayaks and was underwritten by 
the non-profit organization Living Rivers/Colorado Riverkeeper to 
complete an unfinished segment of a Lake Powell sediment survey that was 
initiated the previous fall. This work was a collaboration of university 
scientists, an outfitter and volunteer river guides, including 
University of Arizona, Utah State University, Tag-A-Long Expeditions, 
Colorado Plateau River Guides and Living Rivers/Colorado Riverkeeper.

A smaller rapid has formed just yards upstream of the primitive boat 
ramp, which was modified two years ago to accommodate the needs of white 
water boaters from Canyonlands National Park. This boat ramp is located 
about one mile upriver from the old Hite Marina on the west side of the 
river. After a field trip to the area by representatives of the National 
Park Service and Utah Guides and Outfitters, a decision was made to 
improve the boat ramp to re-align it with the level of the flowing 
river, which continues to down cut into the thick sediment deposits of 
Lake Powell. Special funding for this improvement at the boat ramp has 
been provided by Utah State Parks and Recreation.


As the reservoir continues to fall, the Colorado River chews away the 
sediment deposited when the reservoir was full, carving out a new river 
bed that is suspended over bedrock features such as the divides between 
side canyons and the flat benches that were once canyon rims. Eventually 
the current strikes these bedrock formations which cause rapids, such as 
these two, to form. These rapids can be viewed at www.riverguides.org 
(click on River News: New Rapid in Glen Canyon 
<http://www.riverguides.org/programs/cprg/article.cfm?NewsID=653> on the 
left side Headlines menu). These excellent shots also feature a good 
overview of the new takeout for river runners.

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