Too much water for Dayton's River Run
$4 million paddling playground has been hurt by unsafe levels.
RiverScape River Run — Dayton’s $4 million paddling playground — has faced an unusual problem in its first season: too much water.
High water levels caused by stormy weather have resulted in less paddling activity at River Run than anticipated for downtown’s newest and splashiest river attraction.
The river often has been unsafe, especially for novices.
In the three months since the attraction opened, the Dayton area has had a dozen flood events, said Carrie Scarff, chief of planning and projects with Five Riv- ers MetroParks.
“It’s been a remarkable summer in terms of how frequently the river has been up,” Scarff
said. “It’s just been a lot of rain and a lot of flooding.”
Water levels have been at or below normal only about 10 days out of the nearly 100 since the River Run opened.
River Run officially opened in
the Great Miami River on May 5 to great acclaim, and certainly many eager paddlers have hit the waters to try out the new whitewater passageways.
River Run consists of a couple of rocky structures at RiverScape and the Dayton Art Institute that span the Great Miami River and have two passageways.
The structure at RiverScape has 8,000 square feet of sheet piling, 8,600 cubic yards of rock and 340 cubic yards of concrete.
One passage is for novice paddlers. The other, a faster whitewater channel, is for more experienced paddlers.
River Run project is intended to open up more of the river to recreational activities and bring larger crowds of paddlers and spectators to downtown. Dangerous low-head dams were removed near the art institute.
But from opening day, wet weather has been the norm.
Dayton has had nearly 12.4 inches of rain since June 1. The average, in the last 30 years for this time period, has been 9.2 inches.
From the start of the year through Thursday, Dayton has been soaked with 34.2 inches of rainfall, which compares to the normal precipitation of 26.3 inches.
Paddlers frequently can be seen riding or floating down the river. But undoubtedly the river would draw more people, especially beginner and novice paddlers, if it was not so high, said Scarff.
“If the river is behaving the way it should — if the water levels are right — I see people in there pretty consistently,” Scarff said.
Safety is always the top priority, and kudos to inexperienced kayakers, canoeists and other paddle boaters who decide against hitting the water when it is higher and moving faster than normal, Scarff said.
When the river gets higher, it can get into and dislodge the vegetation on the banks, which can put hazards in the path of paddlers, she said.
Experts urge people to understand their paddling skill levels before deciding what river conditions are right for them.
“We’ve had some flow events that for novice paddlers would be dangerous,” said Mike Ekberg, manager of water monitoring and analysis with the Miami Valley Conservancy District.
Wet weather may have dampened river recreation so far this year, but there’s hope things could change.
The river has had above-normal flows since the end of April, but August to early October tends to be dryer months, and river may return to normal levels before the summer ends, Ekberg said.
The River Run is already a draw and will be a larger one when the weather improves. Mother Nature will be kinder in the future.
“When you are talking about outdoor recreation, you are going to have this: You’re going to have wet years, you’re going to have dry years,” Ekberg said.
Bernie Farley, co-owner of the Whitewater Warehouse at 104 Valley St., said despite the high water, his company continues to send people down the river on inflatable rafts accompanied by guides and instructors for safety.
But Farley said this has been a very tough year for local paddling rental businesses because the rains seem to fall toward the end of the week, meaning the water levels are highest on the weekends when people are most likely to take part in water recreation.
“Our numbers have been OK, but nowhere near where they should be,” he said.
The River Run effort received a big fundraising boost when the James M. Cox Foundation issued a $1 million grant in July 2011. The foundation is an entity of Cox Media Group, this newspaper’s parent company.