A floater goes through Bend Whitewater Park in 2015. (Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin file)

The creation of the Bend Whitewater Park was a triple win. It established a habitat channel for wildlife, a fish ladder for use by fish and human tubers, and what people are often staring at – the middle channel for river surfers and kayakers. 

It’s been 10 years since the park went in and it’s terrific. It did not lead to “safe passage” as was advertised in the Bend Park & Recreation District bond measure in 2012. Plenty of people pick up some bumps and scrapes. Two people died in 2022. Ben Murphy, a 17-year-old  surfer drowned after becoming entrapped near a surf wave. That same year, Joseph Clarence Torkelson, was floating down the river and somehow ended up in the middle whitewater channel instead of the much gentler channel for floaters. He died from his injuries. 

But the watery violence and every day danger of what used to be the Colorado Dam is gone, replaced with something safer and infinitely more fun.

The Whitewater Park now must be improved. It needs changes for safety, repairs and improved function. 

Ten years of water scouring the channels has eaten away at the stone and wave devices put in place. There are holes where people can step and get a foot trapped. Eddies developed where tubers can sometimes get caught and swirled where their feet can’t touch the ground. The entire fish passage/tuber area may need to be redone. It would also be nice if people who were less able to walk had better access closer to the river. 

The biggest issue, though, is the river flows. They are scheduled to change, at least according to the river’s habitat conservation plan. The bottom line is there will be more water in the winter and lower flows in the summer. The future flows are difficult to estimate with certainty because they depend on so many factors. An analysis prepared for the Bend Park & Recreation District says the new operating parameters may be a river flow between 600 cubic feet per second and 1,200 cubic feet per second. The flow differences make a difference in how the passages are designed and for the wave-making mechanisms. 

Of course, all this comes at a price. An estimate for the park district put the cost at $5 million to $12 million, depending on the options chosen. 

How much of an investment in the Whitewater Park should the park district make? Where is the money going to come from?

The park district’s board hasn’t made those decisions, yet. It’s going to. Let them know your thoughts. 

You can find out how to contact the park board here: tinyurl.com/Emailparkboard.

You can read more about it here: tinyurl.com/Bendwhitewater. You will have to scroll down a bit.