By Janet Cook
News staff writer
May 5, 2007

If it were a word problem, it might look like this: Take 26 acres of sand and pile it at the mouth of the Hood River where it sprawls hundreds of yards into the Columbia, blocking off half of the Event Site and making what was once the relatively small and tidy Spit a vast moonscape marred by debris piles.

Factor in swift and variable river currents and steep drop-offs from this new sandbar.

How do you safely accommodate the thousands of summer recreationists who are once again flocking to the waterfront to windsurf, kiteboard, swim, walk dogs and simply hang out?

Extra credit: What happens when frequent fluctuations in the water level of the Bonneville Pool submerge acres of the delta under a couple of feet of water, making it even more hazardous?

What the Port of Hood River’s Waterfront Recreation Committee and representatives from various interest groups working together over the past few months on this problem have discovered is that there is no simple answer. But they’ve come up with a plan to address some of the challenges created by last November’s flooding.

The Columbia Gorge Windsurfing Association and Columbia Gorge Kiteboarding Association have collaborated to create proposed water access zones at the Event Site and the Spit, which have merged as a result of the waterfront’s new real estate.

"All of the zones of use have collapsed upon each other," said Bruce Peterson, a member of CGWA and owner of Sailworks. Before the formation of the delta after last winter’s floods, the Spit and the Event Site were separated by open water extending north from Nichols Boat Basin. The Event Site was reserved for windsurfing only and the Spit for kiteboarding.

Now, the delta blocks the entrance to Nichols Boat Basin and extends westward, blocking nearly half of the Event Site’s previous water frontage.

The proposal by CGWA and CGKA centers on a "5 mph safe zone" extending out from the Event Site beach. The safe zone will be marked by buoys. Posted rules for the safe zone include no fast sailing or jibing, windsurf launching only, and no kiteboarding or kite launching.

"The days of 300 windsurfers zooming back and forth straight out from the Event Site are gone," Peterson said. "Windsurfers will need to go out and upwind."

Kiteboarders will be allowed to set up and launch north of the safe zone. During high water, much of the north half of the delta will be under water and kiters will effectively be launching east of the safe zone.

Rules at the Event Site already forbid kite launching there, but Port Commission President Sherry Bohn said it will be vital this year to enforce that rule. She pointed out that it will be more tempting for kiters to park at the Event Site than the Spit because it’s a shorter walk from there to the launch area.

"But port policy is no kiteboarding from the Event Site," Bohn said. "We need to take a stand on that policy. Kiteboarders can’t even pump kites up or set lines on the grass at the Event Site."

Jim Grady, a White Salmon, Wash., kiteboard instructor and member of the CGKA, supports the port policy and the new safe zone.

"If we have clear lines of what we can do and can’t do, it makes it easier" to enforce, Grady said.

Hood River County Sheriff Marine Deputy Mike Anderson said the new rules will be visibly posted, but it will be "self-enforcing." If the port identifies an individual or individuals who repeatedly violate the posted rules, then the sheriff’s department can cite them for trespassing.

A pending proposal from the CGWA to use the parking lot on the west side of the Luhr Jensen building for overflow parking from the Event Site is being considered. Bear Mountain Forest Products, which leases the building, is in favor of the proposal, according to Sam Bauer of the CGWA.

Katie Crafts, CGWA executive director, said if the proposal is approved, an existing ramp to the water from near that parking lot could be made "more hospitable" and used as a windsurfing launch to further ease congestion at the Event Site.

Peterson and Grady agree that it will be up to members of the windsurfing and kiteboarding communities to communicate the new rules to all users — particularly to summer visitors who may be unaware of the new situation at the waterfront.

"The potential for an accident is not small," Peterson said. "It certainly is higher than in the past."

Anderson, the sheriff’s marine deputy, said he is concerned not only about the potential for windsurfing and kiting accidents, but about swimming and even walking on the delta.

Bohn agrees.

"There really isn’t a swim beach anymore," she said. "I think we need to be vigilant about letting the public know that what was the marina swim beach is no longer. There is no safe swim beach."

The potential hazards of the delta were highlighted at a meeting last month of the Port’s Waterfront Recreation Committee where Andrew Jansky, an engineer and waterfront consultant hired by the port, gave a 20-minute presentation about the newly formed delta.

"It’s really rebuilding what it looked like in the good old days before the dam," Jansky said. A photograph from 1935, before the construction of Bonneville Dam, shows a similar delta at the mouth of the Hood River.

Last November’s flooding deposited approximately 750,000 cubic yards of sand at the Hood River’s mouth in the course of a few days, altering the outlet of the river and creating 26 acres of sandbar that was not there before.

"In most places, it drops off right after the sandbar," Jansky said. "The shelf out there is very steep and dangerous." Jansky mapped out several areas where large debris from the floods piled up and remains. The debris piles are visible when the river level is low, but become submerged as water in the Bonneville Pool rises, in the spring and early summer.

"The question is what does the sandbar look like during summer as the pool changes," Jansky said. He said the pool elevation often changes hourly due to spring runoff and flow alterations at The Dalles Dam, making predictions difficult. For example, on two consecutive days this spring, the Columbia’s flow varied from 266 cubic feet per second to 300 cfs. The change resulted in a 7-foot fluctuation in water level, according to Jansky.

That seven feet submerged most of the large debris piles at the north end of the delta under at least a couple of feet of water. That translates into serious hazards for unsuspecting windsurfers and kiteboarders, not to mention dangers to swimmers created by unexpected currents and eddies that could exist around the submerged debris.

"There are some areas that are very, very hazardous," Jansky said.

A map of the new waterfront access zones will be posted at windsurf and kite shops around town, and elsewhere to get the word out to recreationists about the potential hazards and changes at the waterfront. Most windsurfers and kiters are cautiously upbeat about the changes and the ability for the various recreation communities to self-enforce the new rules.

"I think it’s a great plan and I hope it gets respected," said Crafts of the CGWA. "I think it will be visible who is respecting it and who isn’t."

Steve Gates, owner of Big Winds — which caters to both windsurfers and kiteboarders — and a member of the Port’s Waterfront Recreation Committee who has been addressing the challenges posed by the delta since last winter, thinks the plan is a very workable solution.

"It’s the reality of living in a social environment," Gates said. "We have to realize what it’s going to take to make a safe environment for everyone because both windsurfing and kiteboarding are critical to our economy here."