Colorado – February 28, 2013 – McLaughlin Whitewater Design Group (MWDG) (www.mclaughlinwhitewater.com), a division of Merrick & Company, recently honored at the American Public Works Association Colorado Chapter (APWA-CO) Annual Awards ceremony. The Hartland Dam/Gunnison River improvements, completed by MWDG, received the Medium Community – Environmental Design award. Participants were required by the APWA to submit projects demonstrating outstanding work but also winners were only selected if work offered a high degree of ingenuity and significant technical, economic, and/or social impacts to the community, and in the public works profession.
The winning project involves design of major environmental improvements to the Gunnison River at an existing dam near Delta, CO. Modifying the existing dam and installing interconnected “in-river” fishway channels incorporating “confined-boulder” and innovative “multi-slot baffled” channel designs, accommodate and support the recovery of endangered Colorado native fish species in the Gunnison River basin. M-MWDG also provided hydraulic engineering expertise for the design of this first known combined state-of-the-art fish passage and recreational whitewater facility in the US.
Not only does the project aid in the recovery of endangered fish in the region but also now provides a high performance recreational experience for river enthusiasts and boaters, kayakers and rafters.