The Pitkin County Open Space and Trails board Thursday agreed to spend up to $100,000 to design and help build a small and “moderately difficult” kayak park in the Roaring Fork River in Basalt, just upstream of the Elk Run neighborhood.

The funding was granted at the request of Pitkin County Attorney John Ely, who said a recently completed $10,000 feasibility study by The McLaughlin Whitewater Design Group in Denver concluded the park would be both a recreational and environmental improvement.

If the $100,000 expenditure for the kayak park is approved by the county commissioners, about $75,000 will be paid to Jason Carey of River Restoration.org of Glenwood Springs to design a kayak wave, a small boat ramp and riverside trails.

Unlike some other kayak parks, the Basalt park would probably only have one wave feature, which would be near the put-in and visible from seating areas sculpted into the riverbank.

The wave would function best when river levels are above 200 cubic feet per second, according to the McLaughlin study. Flows are usually at least that high throughout the summer.

Carey designed and supervised the construction of the new kayak waves in the Colorado River just upstream of the West Glenwood bridge. Those waves, which enjoy the biggest flows in the state  year-round, opened this spring to enthusiastic reviews from kayakers and river surfers, who stand-up-paddle into the wave on long boards.

Carey has also designed kayak parks in Avon and Vail. He was awarded the Basalt project after a county procurement process.

The Basalt kayak wave would likely be formed by placing rocks in a short section of the Fork across from Fisherman’s Park on upper Two Rivers Road, where there is a small parking lot and picnic shelter.

Across the road from the little park there is a crude put-in and take-out on river-right, just below the upper Basalt bypass bridge where Highway 82 crosses a bend in the river.

Pitkin County owns land on both side of the river there and river exits Pitkin County just downstream from there. From Ely’s perspective, that is ideal, as he plans to file for recreational water rights for the park.

Those rights could ensure that a certain amount of water flows downstream from higher elevations, thus keeping more water in the Roaring Fork as it runs through the county.

That idea also appealed to Tim McFlynn, a member of the county open space board.

“I think the instream flow benefits and the riparian benefits are as important of the recreational benefits,” McFlynn said.

The Basalt project is expected to cost between $500,000 and $1 million, depending on the design, Ely said.

Funding will be sought from Great Outdoors Colorado and the town of Basalt. In addition, it is possible that funds from the recently approved “healthy rivers and streams” county-wide sales tax could be used for the kayak park.

Gary Tennenbaum, a land steward for the county and a Basalt town council member, told the open space board that the town was “enthusiastic” about the prospect of the kayak park. The McLaughlin report states that the project is consistent with Basalt’s River Stewardship Master Plan.

Construction of the park would also be coordinated with the Colorado Department of Transportation, which wants to clear rocks that have washed up under the Basalt by-pass bridge, which was built with concrete pillars in the river channel

Once the project is designed and has funding, another $25,000 of the $100,000 in county open space funds would be paid to Carey for construction supervision.

Ely said the kayak wave was not intended to be a regional attraction like the wave in Glenwood. Instead, it might be more of a quick stopping point for traveling boaters and a popular spot for local boaters and their families.

While it may be unusual for a county attorney to be  promoting a kayak park, Ely said he has been captivated by the idea and so far, a variety of stakeholders, engineers and politicians have agreed with him that it is a good idea on a number of levels.

“I walk into my office, look at all the other issues on my desk, and say ‘Where is that kayak park proposal?’” Ely said.

bgs@aspendailynews.com