Floaters eagerly await Colorado Dam safe passage

Construction is in full swing this summer at the Colorado Dam Safe Passage Project in Bend. If you were hoping to start floating all the way through, you have to be patient. Officials from Bend Park and Recreation officials said it’s slated to open by the end of August.

“I wish it was open now. That would be really fun to do,” Sisters resident Kyle Rickards said Monday.

But until late summer, you’ll still have to exit the river before you get to the dam.

“Currently, we’re in Stage 3, which is the final stage of this project,” said Brian Hudspeth, construction manager with Bend Park and Recreation.

Once completed, everyone can float thought the safe passage. There also will be a habitat channel, where fish can safely pass through and a whitewater section.

While the safe passage and whitewater section are 98 percent complete, the habitat channel is still in the early stages.

“It’s almost in it’s Phase 1 stage,” Hudspeth said.

The whitewater section in particular has caught people’s attention.

“I’ve never surfed before, and I heard that there is some kind of a surf element to it,” Rickards said.

Depending on your level, there are four different standing waves for you to try out. The beginner wave is all the way at the bottom. The top wave, which is the most advanced, is between a Class 3 and 4 rapid.

“Drop 4 has two outside wave blocks, which can raise up, which will drive that standing wave into the center of the channel and stand up up to 6 feet high,” Hudspeth said.

All that water power means there will be safety measures in place.

“That’s why the rapid, this section of the water, is not designed to be entered from above,” Hudspeth said.

Instead, you’re advised to enter it from below, and signs will direct floaters to the safe passage channel.

For more information, visit: http://www.bendparksandrec.org/Current_Projects/Colorado-Dam/