[Awclist] Fwd: RRFW Riverwire – Pearce Ferry Rapid and Road Update

[Thomas Robey]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: RRFW Riverwire <riverwire at rrfw.org>
> Date: March 12, 2009 10:00:28 PM MDT
> To: trobey at cybermesa.com
> Subject: RRFW Riverwire – Pearce Ferry Rapid and Road Update
> Reply-To: riverwire at rrfw.org
>
> RRFW Riverwire -
>
> Pearce Ferry Rapid and Road Update
> RRFW Riverwire - Pearce Ferry Rapid and Road Update
> March 12, 2009
>
> Grand Canyon river runners completing their river trips at Lake Mead  
> National Recreation Area will see red surveyors ribbon along the  
> banks of the Colorado River at about river mile 279.5 just a half  
> mile above a major rapid.
>
> Called Pearce Ferry Rapid, the rapid is the result of the Colorado  
> River heading full force into a gravel hillside and making a hard  
> right turn. As the continuing drought draws down the waters of the  
> reservoir behind Hoover Dam, the Colorado River now travels over  
> silt beds far removed from the pre-reservoir channel. In this case  
> the river now runs over a ridge and into a hillside.
>
> Since October of last year, a new feature has developed in the  
> rapid. A large recirculating wave has formed mid-channel, adjacent  
> to a gravel island in the center right side of the rapid. This wave  
> can be passed on the left, and then river runners can complete the  
> run by pulling back away from the left shore and exiting to the  
> smooth water below the rapid. A large campsite and sandy beach is  
> immediately below the rapid.
>
> While many recent river trip reports indicate no problems navigating  
> the rapid, Grand Canyon National Park officials did report receiving  
> one letter from a group of river runners who had difficulty running  
> the rapid, with one member fracturing a tibia.
>
> Grand Canyon National Park is presently updating the river runner  
> orientation DVD to include a section on Pearce Ferry Rapid. Grand  
> Canyon officials noted that this major rapid, while no worse than  
> rapids already navigated upstream, will be the first rapid  
> encountered after over 40 miles of flat-water, and may challenge  
> river runners unaware of the rapid's existence. Rangers at the Grand  
> Canyon put-in at Lee's Ferry, Arizona, are also now advising river  
> trips going all the way to the reservoir, to be prepared to scout  
> the rapid. The rapid's location is clearly marked only on one Grand  
> Canyon river guide, Guide to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon   
> by Tom Martin and Duwain Whitis.
>
> Recent photos of the rapid can be viewed at the River Runners for  
> Wilderness web site photo gallery here:
>
> http://www.rrfw.org/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=12
>
> Meanwhile, design and development of a plan to build a take-out road  
> out to the Colorado River above the rapid continues. The proposed  
> route, marked by survey ribbon, would extend from the end of the  
> present Pearce Ferry road.
>
> The concept of pushing a road to the Colorado River at Pearce Ferry  
> was originally considered in 2004. At that time, the receding waters  
> of the reservoir required commercial and self-guided river trips  
> alike to add an additional sixteen miles to their river trip,  
> traveling past the inaccessible Pearce Ferry take-out to the next  
> take-out at South Cove.
>
> At Pearce Ferry in August 2004, Lake Mead National Recreation Area  
> officials met with members of the Hualapai Tribe and various Grand  
> Canyon river concessionaires to discuss building a road to the river  
> at Pearce Ferry. A Pearce Ferry take-out would shorten the last day  
> of the commercial river trip by as much as two and a half hours.
>
> Also that year, a Department of Transportation study was conducted,  
> looking at three options, two going straight to the river, while  
> another option would follow the shoreline east almost a mile, then  
> traverse over to the river channel for an estimated road length of  
> 8,900 feet.
>
> The projected cost estimates at the time the study was completed for  
> the 24 feet wide public road routes varied from $1.4 to $2.5  
> million. Additional ongoing ramp and road maintenance costs were  
> also calculated to be as high as $279,000 annually. Not included in  
> these estimates were the  costs of frequent re-grading of the  
> roadway along with possible increased costs associated with  
> providing adequate road fill.
>
> According to Lake Mead officials, the National Park Service decided  
> at that time that the road would be too cost prohibitive, with  
> concerns over the stability of the road fill and the potential for a  
> return to pre-drought conditions which would inundate and completely  
> destroy the road work.
>
> Last year, with the development of Pearce Ferry Rapid making jet- 
> boat takeouts and downstream river travel more difficult, the  
> Hualapai Tribe and river concessionaires approached the Park  
> Service, offering to provide private funding for the project, to be  
> overseen by the Park Service.
>
> As of this writing, surveyors have flagged the intended road route,  
> the eastern option previously studied in 2004, but no construction  
> has begun. According to Lake Mead officials, there is no firm  
> commitment to build the road at this time, though updated soils  
> analysis has been completed. Park Service officials also noted they  
> do not anticipate the road construction, should it begin, to be  
> completed prior to the start of the commercial river running season.
>
> To see photos of the flagged road route, visit the River Runners for  
> Wilderness web site gallery here:
>
> http://www.rrfw.org/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=11
>
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