GOOD NEWS ON RIO FOR BOATERS
Spring snowmelt has the Rio Grande flowing high and fast this summer, which is good news for experienced boaters
With the Rio Grande flowing high and fast this summer, more people are hitting the river, but access points can be a challenge.
M’ Leah Woodard’s recent Middle Rio Grande paddling adventure started long before she got on the water.
She and her friend, April Johnson, invested some time and effort scouting out the river access at Coronado State Monument in Bernalillo — good for kayaks but not for her raft — and poking around the surrounding area — all private land.
Eventually, they found an access point at the U.S. 550 bridge, but it still required a 100yard walk, and that’s no small thing when you’re hauling a large raft and all the necessary gear. It took Woodard and Johnson an hour and a half to inflate the raft and get on the water. But then, bliss. “It was lovely to be on the water,” Woodard said. “It was a really nice view of the city.”
With water levels this summer already swollen from spring snowmelt and forecast to be the best we’ve had in almost a decade, more boaters are expected to hit the Rio Grande, both in the well-known whitewater in the Taos area and along the quieter stretch of the Middle Rio Grande between Algodones and Albuquerque.
“I expect you’ll see more people going out this year,” said Michael Hayes, owner of Quiet Waters Paddling Adventures, which offers guided and self-guided kayak, canoe, raft and stand-up paddleboard outings.
The Rio Grande is experiencing the highest snowmelt runoff since 2008, with snowpack 137 percent of average for this time of year, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Weather Service. Peak flows should hit the Middle Rio Grande around mid-June, Hayes said.
But as boaters head for the river, they’re likely to encounter one big obstacle: There are not many places with easy access for private boaters. In most places, they face lengthy and difficult carries, Hayes said.
“A short walk when you have canoes and kayaks and assorted gear isn’t a short walk. It’s an ordeal,” he said.
Woodard agreed. “What gives? Why is the public effectively left out?” she asked. “It’s frustrating.”
Corrales has two good public access points, Fire Chief Anthony Martinez said. One is on the northwest side of the Alameda bridge, and the other is at the north end of Corrales. Boaters generally put in at the north end and exit the river at Alameda to avoid the diversion dam operated by the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority just to the south.
Although private boaters can’t drive through the gate to the new boat ramps — they are reserved for public safety crews— boaters have to walk only 100 or 200 feet to the water and can enjoy a roughly twohour trip down the river, Martinez said.
To help the many private boaters looking for access, Hayes created a page on his website with information about commonly used access points north of Albuquerque. It is atquietwaterspaddling.com/middle-riogrande-public-access-information.
Progress is complicated by the hodgepodge of land management agencies, including the Albuquerque Open Space Division, the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, the Army Corps of Engineers and the village of Corrales and other municipalities.
Kelly Gossett, owner of New Mexico Kayak Instruction, is familiar with the bureaucratic morass. He’s played a role in various planning processes and concluded that conversations about river access “don’t seem to go anywhere.”
In any case, he said, the wider and shallower river channel through Albuquerque makes it less attractive for boating than the area north of Alameda. What the city could use, though, is a place like Sandia Lakes that is suitable for active recreation – everything from family swimming to games of kayak polo.
“It would be a game changer,” he said.