Whitewater Recreation Facility Development

FACILITIES

 

Alberta has a multitude of great paddling venues throughout the province. Community swimming pools teach the basics of paddling skills in a safe and supervised environment to the beginners and children. Lakes, ponds and slow moving rivers are employed to refine flatwater skills and build confidence for beginners. And there are rivers from Grade II to V+ that give intermediate and expert paddlers places to go and test their skills while enjoying the level of experience desired.

 

The AWA has been involved in the construction of 4 whitewater paddling facilities over the past 30 years.

The latest facility is the reconstruction of the WID weir in downtown Calgary into the Harvey Passage whitewater park which flooded the drowning machine that the weir structure created and reformed the drop into a series of rapids and features for paddling.

Boulder Run near Pincher Creek was built when the province constructed the Oldman River Dam in 1992. The AWA was also involved at that time with the design of the fish mitigation structures on the Crowsnest River from Blairmore to Lundbreck. These structures have proved to be excellent for paddlers too. 

The lower Kananaskis River remains the flagship for the AWA and is a National Western Training Centre for slalom and freestyle disciplines. 

In 2013 major flooding in southern Alberta destroyed all of the whitewater facilities. The AWA has rebuilt these facilities with government support to keep these important locations for our sport.

See the attached 2018 Plan for the Lower Kananaskis River land based facility improvements. 

LKR-Barrier_Project Plan_Post-Consultation_PUBLIC_FINAL._short.pdf

 
  • Government of Alberta
  • Coach Canada
  • La Farge
  • AQ Outdoors Logo
  • JayLife13 Logo
  • Jumpstart Badge Logo
  • DeLauretis Wealth Management
  • InMotion Logo
  • Canoe Kayak Canada