The Hartland Dam reconstruction project has stirred local enthusiasm for additional recreational accommodation along the Gunnison River.
The project objective was to provide fish passage, but the project has also remedied what was an extreme safety hazard to boaters: the dam has been the site of several rafting fatalities. The reach now provides a low hazard corridor for boaters and user-friendly access to the river.
Reticence among private landowners has thwarted efforts in the past to develop a recreation corridor along the river (2006, specifically). However, the success of the dam revision that facilitates both fish passage and boating, designed by Rick McLaughlin, Ben Nielsen and the MWDG design team, has renewed local enthusiasm for connecting communities and growing visitorship via the river. County commissioners the City of Delta (community development, parks, recreation), the Bureau of Land Management (Gunnison Gorge NCA manager), Town of Hotchkiss, Trout Unlimited, and the NFRIA Conservation Center of Paonia are working on a “concept paper” that will outline a vision of a river recreation corridor through Delta County. Read the complete Coyote Gulch post here…
