[benrodda]

I was just wondering if there is any more planned improvements to the Golden Play Park? My hope is that someone will put some of the rocks back that were removed from below the Bingo Hole. I know that they presented some what of a hazard to beginner boaters but man it made the hole so sweet.

Then there is that drop just after the bleacher hole and the Library hole that both have enough gradient to make something really cool.

Also what is left to be done to get the Glennwood project under way? That location is critical as it is still flowing at 1200 CFS. We really need to get behind them make sure ti happens.

thanks,

ben

 

[Mountain]

i heard that the glenwood project was shut down about a week or two ago by the lawyers of the hot springs, (other wise known as the bay of pigs). they say that the hot spring aquifer is about a foot under the river bed of the purposed play park site. i hope this is just a bad rumor. how sweat would it be to have a park that truly runs year round......
peace
MM

i also heard that the carbondale park is looking good to maybe happen next fall but there is still allot of work to be done in the politics of it all

 

[Jiberish]

Hey:

The rumor is true to an extent. The pool is concerned with an aquifer under the river, which could be tapped into by possible scouring. However, the pool really doesnt have any facts on where the aquifer is.....BUT it is understandable that if there was, and we hit it, the pool would become a big skate park. So, we are currently working on getting the right data needed to know exactly how far deep it is.....and the possiblitly of maybe needing to look into a seperate site possibly downstream. However, We want to still push forward.....It isnt shut down! Keep your fingers crossed.

Ben

 

[TheKid]

Yes please let all of us know if there is anything that we can help with, mainly at the Golden park. I know that there are a ton of front range paddlers that would be willing to put in a ton of time helping make imporvements. We are all praying for grips of snow and hoping next years Golden sessions will be epic.

 

[benrodda]

Jib,

What about up stream? Does Shoshone flow consistently? Is this even a good option?

By the way I loved all the pictures and videos post of you from the dries... We are proud of you man.

ben

 

[cstork]

To think the Glenwood White Water Park will effect the hot springs is a little ludicrous. First, hot springs come up faults//fissures, not flat acquifers. Second, if the hot springs water went just under the river, it would cool off a lot from the cold river water. Third, the scouring of the river will hardly go through bedrock--a few inches at most. The scouring will just remove sediment. Lastly, if the hot springs water comes from a flat acquifer that goes under the river and has such a thin cap rock that the scouring would break it, it would have been broken already by numerous other forces.

But, I can see the Hot Springs people being way overly careful. It's their Golden Goose. I hope they eventually get enough info to be comfortable.

Keep at it!

 

[Jiberish]

Ya i agree. This is too excellent of a spot, and alot of us have spent a lot of time on this to just have it shut down. Shoshoe would be good and has consistant flows, however it would bring no beneficial effect to the economy of GWS, or at least not as much as if it were smack in the middle of town. Plus it is national forest land. Hope you liked the pics, the Dries are sick!!!!

If anyone would want to email me there opinion, and or advice, with your name and where you live, that would be great and could help impact some of the hot pool people~

THanks
Ben Guska

[email protected]

 

[caverdan]

The aquifer that heats the pool does run under the river. There is evidence of this by the presence of hot pools and seeps along both shores of the river. There are also vapor caves on both sides of the river and the same aquifer helped to create the many caves in the area, including Glennwood Caverns, above town. There are a couple of rocks in the middle of the river that were created from seeps in the river bed. (across from the pool) The rock that was dissolved by the springs has been redeposited to an extent at the springs outlet, thus forming the seeping rock in the middle of the river. Nature seems to balance it's own forces, but if man does it, it can be a different story. Churning up the river bed in that area could cause the springs to act differently than they do now, as it could either create or fill voids that are a part of the balance of how the aquifer reacts as we know it. I too would be worried about changing the characteristics of the spring by disturbing the river bed in that area. Granted it's a large spring, but the Colorado is a large river. Hind site is 20/20 and changing or interfering with the springs aquifer would be irreversible. It would effect more than just the pool owners if things went wrong for some unforeseen reason. The tourists that come to Glennwood for the pool, support the businesses in town also. In the end, the towns economy would suffer for a mistake, if things went wrong during construction. Some food for though.
Dan

 

[cstork]

Points well taken. I realize arguing this here is pointless, but it is interesting seeing the points of view.

Aquifer generally refers to a flat subsurface rock layer where the water mostly moves horizontally. The hot springs are almost certainly caused by faults/fissures that come up vertically. As you point out there is a network of these cracks, which is probably why the river took this route through the canyon.

It still seems to be a stretch to think removing sediment from the river will change anything since the sediment, even boulders, are constantly moving anyway. Also, is there some experience from digging out the foundation of buildings near the river? The foundations may go deeper into the bedrock than the scouring.

 

[rivermanryan]

So why would the aquifer not be found in the alluvium? There are many aquifers that are found in alluvium and other surficial deposits. Not all aquifers have to be contained within bedrock. I think you could alter the groundwater regime by moving alluvium and other surficial materials within and near the river channel.

Aquifer generally refers to a flat subsurface rock layer where the water mostly moves horizontally

I don't agree with this statement. There are many types of aquifers that are not flay-lying and contained in a single bed.

I don't know anything about the geohydrology of the Glenwood area, but it should be well understood before any construction begins.

 

[Ron]

play park

Would sure rather drive 4 hrs. to Glenwood to play while my wife shops than 10 to Reno, but it looks like it'll be Reno for a while. Ron.

 

[cstork]

Yes, fresh water aquifers can be in alluvium, but this is generally just the water table. I assume you mean alluvium to be the unconsolidated surface layer. Heated pressurized water comes from deeper layers. That's where the water also picks up the sulfur and other minerals.

It's also true that aquifers can be a combination of different sedimentary beds that are on top of each other. While the beds can be tilted with the geology, the fractures that go with the folds & faults ruin the aquifer. Effective aquifers are mostly flat--they may rise a few 100 feet over miles.

The hot water almost certainly comes up through faults and fissures. Moving river sediments around won't do much since the river moves the sediments around anyway........

Yea, Glenwood should understand their water source since they rely on it so much.

 

[rivermanryan]

I agree the source of the water is deep in bedrock. I just think you could alter the regime near the surface by moving alluvium (unconsolidated boulders, sand, silt, etc). Example, unloading alluvium in the river channel may increase spring flow in the river an lessen flow (or lower)into the pool area. As I said before, I don't know the specifics, I just like discussing the topic!

 

[caverdan]

I'm by no means a geologest, but I do cave with a lot of them. The area around Glennwoood has held cavers interest for many years now. There are quite a few different hot springs in the Glennwood area, from Dotsero, to South Glennwood canyon, with several up valley toward Aspen. They could all stem from the same heat source several miles below the surface. Over geological time, they have moved around some as erosion and other forces change their outlets. The area that is most active right now is around the pool area of the river. That area, even during high water is considered flat water, if memory serves my right. So I'm not sure how much scouring the river causes right there compared to in the canyon, where the river bed sees a more constant change in flow and rock movement. The canyon is basically a large fault that the river has followed for a long time. As the river and springs intermix as the canyon was cut, many caves were formed due to the mixing of spring and ground waters. Caves were formed throughout the canyon in the soft and easily dissolved limestone deposits in the canyon. Yes a very interesting topic in deed.