Colorado’s river recreation economy boomed in the first 10 years of recreational in-channel diversion water rights, which state lawmakers created in 2001 to protect water used for recreation. In the decade that followed, 20 communities claimed rights that kept rapids roiling in whitewater parks that became community centerpieces.
But those water rights, known as RICDs (and pronounced RISS-ids), had a very quiet second decade. Not one community has secured protection for recreational water flows since 2010. That changed last week as a state water court approved a conditional water right allowing Glenwood Springs to build three new whitewater parks on the Colorado River.
Colorado’s river recreation economy boomed in the first 10 years of recreational in-channel diversion water rights, which state lawmakers created in 2001 to protect water used for recreation. In the decade that followed, 20 communities claimed rights that kept rapids roiling in whitewater parks that became community centerpieces.
But those water rights, known as RICDs (and pronounced RISS-ids), had a very quiet second decade. Not one community has secured protection for recreational water flows since 2010. That changed last week as a state water court approved a conditional water right allowing Glenwood Springs to build three new whitewater parks on the Colorado River.
Nine years of wrangling in water court is likely a deterrent for communities seeking to promote river recreation as an economic engine, said Josh Kuhn, who advocates for water protection for Conservation Colorado. The challenges Glenwood Springs faced supports a growing push to reform the RICD process.
“We need to modify the way we protect recreational flows. A lot has changed since the early 2000s with lows flows and increased demand and it’s really important we protect recreational flows in our rivers so communities can have more tools for diversifying their recreational economy,” Kuhn said.
The Glenwood Springs conditional water right protects three different flow rates between April and September for three parks at No Name, Horseshoe Bend and Two Rivers Park. (For the flow geeks: 1,250 cubic feet per second – or cfs – from Apr. 1 through June 7 and July 24 through Sept. 30, and 2,500 cfs between June 8 and July 23. When the snow is deep upstream, Glenwood Springs can protect five continuous days of flows over 4,000 cfs between June 30 and July 6, which could support, say, a whitewater kayaking contest at one of the city’s parks over the July Fourth holiday.)
The Colorado River Outfitters Association counted 55,228 rafters floating through Glenwood Canyon on commercial rafts in 2020, creating an economic impact of $19.1 million. That makes rafting in Glenwood Canyon the second biggest contributor to Colorado’s $148.7 million rafting economy, behind the Arkansas River, which ranks as the most rafted river in the country.