Skunk River Water Trail Project Updates

November 2009 update: A few more signs went up, we did a bit of maintenance and there was some movement on kiosks, but the biggest news in 2009 has to be the completion of the hard-surfaced ramps at the Sleepy Hollow Access and River Valley Park. The ISU student chapter of the Association of General Contractors (AGC), Construction Engineering students led by Scott Hoskins, poured the two concrete ramps in October. The river came up hours before they were to begin at River Valley Park so Scott was back again on November 3rd to extend the ramp down to the river, which was flowing at 400cfs (north gauge) at the time. Todd Burras wrote of the projects in New boat ramp makes access to Skunk River easier for paddlers (Ames Tribune 9/25/09) and there are additional photos of Sleepy Hollow and the Skunk River Navy here.
The support and assistance of Steve Lekwa was key to moving these projects along, as was Scott's persistence. We owe our usual thanks to Carol Williams, as well as thanks to Kevin Shawgo and Dave Cole for their assistance with the River Valley project and to Nate Hoogeveen and the IDNR's Rivers Program staff and Dave Thomson (NPS) for their contributions. These are not "Small Footprint Accesses" such as those we were credited with in 2006, and they're not what we envisioned as an accessible access when the grant was drafted, but they will provide easier access to a very nice section of the South Skunk.
Along the Skunk - a look back at '08, the Water Trail Project and the Skunk River Paddlers
November 2007 update: Our earlier access construction projects survived numerous occasions of high water this year. The Anderson Access silts in, as expected, but remains much improved from what it had been previous to our work. The steps at the Askew Bridge Access remain structurally sound but gravel does wash out during the heaviest of rains, and an early flood found the landing blocked with debris. (Ask John Holzmueller about that!) The Ames SE 16th Street improvements are nearly complete and I'll guess that the new canoe access and trailhead will be ready for use next spring - we may have a hand in the actual launch improvements. The Sleepy Hollow and River Valley Park projects inched ahead this year but were not completed. Most notable of the completed projects may be the conversion of the Story City dam to a rock rapids. Becker Gravel donated a large part of the needed rock and it was hauled to the site at no cost by Manatt's, Inc. Construction took place during low water in late July, and high water in early August found a number of us playing the new waves (see "Story City dam 8/25/07" in "newsandnotes"). With this improvement, the constructed rock riffle at Soper's, and on the occasions that the River Valley Park dam offers a friendly wave, opportunities for surfing and playboating are good on the upper South Skunk!
A few more bridge signs and water trail signs were installed this year and Carol Williams recently received a large order of signs from Prison Industries. We have replaced those at the Hannum's Mill dam that did not conform with the new DNR water trails standards and we'll have more to install next spring.
October 2006 update: STORY CITY: The DNR Water Trails application submitted by Carol Williams for the dam conversion was successful, but the award was short of what we anticipate for construction costs. At our request the Iowa Whitewater Coalition paid for the enginneering costs associated with the conversion so that we could apply for a REAP Grant in August to complete the funding. The REAP Grant was also successful and we will begin talking with contractors soon. In addition to dam modifications the project will include an upstream and downstream landing and a portage trail. Because this is the first conversion project of it's kind in Iowa, we hope to obtain rock locally and hold down costs. RIVER VALLEY PARK: Dave has received 3 bids and aquired another couple site plans for the ADA accessible access. We'll be talking to the contractors to determine the specifics of their bids before proceeding. SOUTHEAST 16TH STREET: Originally planned for the Hunziker Youth Sports Complex, this site was chosen after it became apparent that improvements to SE 16th would be made sooner than originally planned. Dave has been working with John Joiner on this project and recently shared an engineering site plan for a greenbelt trail head, river access and parking area just north of SE 16th and west of the river. Because the new site is privately owned and federal dollars are involved, the "Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970" comes into play. The Uniform Act ensures that citizens are treated fairly in land aquisitions and takings. It is my understanding that in this case the property owner is willing to sell or to provide an easement. OTHER - SIGNS: We have placed signs on the 150th Street and E18 bridges to inform river users of their location on the river. We have also placed several of our "Skunk River Water Trail" signs to mark river access and will continue both projects as time and weather allow.
February 2006 update: Carol Williams recently submitted a second application to the DNR's new Water Trail Grant program, this one for the modifications to the Story City dam. The joint DNR/USACE Permit Application has also been submitted. (DNR Grant App)
The first DNR Grant application, submitted by Jim Cooper for the Fossil brand kiosks, has been approved. Funds become available in March. SCC will be working on these.
Greg met with Bob Sperry, the Story County Engineer. Bob apparently was supportive of our plans for bridge signs & we should move ahead and get bids for these immediately. We'll attach aluminum signs to the steel bridges & stencil the concrete bridges.
We'll need to get together & consider both sign placement & which DNR signs we can budget for.
Scott & I met with Rick Carter and looked at the McFarland campsites. Not much was decided. According to Rick both campsites are in use nearly every weekend during the summer and it seems unlikely that someone floating down the river would find one vacant. Still he was willing to go ahead with the project, despite it being a difficult location. The campsites are located above a steep bank on the outside of a sweeping bend. It appears part of the bank slumped off some (few) years ago, so there is a sort of "bench" halfway down the bank, but it's unlikely that will remain through many more spring floods. Our grant funding for the site was for a Geoweb & rock landing, but without some protection I'm not sure we should proceed. We'll need to put our heads together on this one.
October 2005 update: Most of the improvements are to be made by volunteers; our sweat is part of the grant match. As of the last scheduled workday, October 8th, the Skunk River Paddlers have held seven volunteer workdays and worked at five locations.
Our first workday, held February 19th, was aptly described by SCC Director Steve Lekwa in his weekly Ames Tribune column, this one titled "Pining to get outdoors". It was possibly our largest turnout of volunteers, even after having turned a couple groups away. Unexpectedly warm weather had caused the ice to move off the river, requiring some changes to our plans but allowing us to take an early season float from Sopers to Sleepy Hollow after our work was completed.
The first project, begun in May, was the construction of a series steps at the Askew Bridge/Cambridge Pond access. We used Geoweb and timbers to build stairs down an otherwise steep bank (photo). Our work was immediately tested by heavy rains and high water, requiring a couple return visits to make repairs and complete the anchoring of timbers. At West Peterson Park we made use of an existing bank cut & installed a Geoweb and rock ramp to provide solid footing.
The Anderson Canoe Access had previously consisted of a broken concrete and earthen jetty. Carrying a boat across the broken concrete was often hazardous, and launching often difficult. This was the access most in need of attention. The county road department rearranged the concrete in advance of our July workday & we installed a series of steps on the downstream side of the jetty (photo). This project involved 2 1/2 Saturdays, an additional afternoon, and the assistance of the Skunk River Navy!
The paddlers coordinated with SCC, US Filter, and Manatt's Inc to construct a portage route around the US Filter/Hannum Mill dam (photo), and worked with the County Engineer to create a new access as the 265th Street bridge was replaced. The final workday found us back at E18, where we addressed some erosion problems and did some additional stabilization of the hillside.
On the horizon are a some larger projects - the two ADA accessible accesses, the dam conversion at South Park in Story City (photo), and the development, construction and installation of informational kiosks at each of the access areas. We're hopful that a couple ISU student groups will find these to be vauluable community service projects (pass the word)!
Many thanks to Story County Conservation and County Engineering staff for their assistance and cooperation, to Manatt's and Munn Lumber for their contributions, and to the local grocers and restaurants that have fed our hungry volunteers.