Letters: What do you think about a whitewater park in Elizabethton?

Letters: What do you think about a whitewater park in Elizabethton?With our Question of the Week, we asked readers for their thoughts on a proposal to build a whitewater park in one of the rivers passing through Elizabethton. Here are some of the answers we received.Outdoor recreation adds quality of lifeI think this is an awesome project. Rafting on the Watauga is a wonderful family experience and would be an ideal river to end that trip with a big finale.Locals and tourists would really benefit from this addition. We have a few success stories in the area already; the investments in the Tweetsie Trail and the Tannery Knob bike park have managed to add a ton of value to this community and will only get better with time.I believe that a project like this is enhancing one of the greatest assets of our region, our natural resources. This area already has so much to offer and to continue to capitalize on those strengths only makes this place more attractive. It seems to make a ton of sense to invest in a project that will continue to bring people, money and businesses to the region. If you read about other communities where diverse outdoor adventure is accessible, and enhanced/embraced by the local municipalities they have only thrived.One last thing that I think gets overlooked in this discussion is the retention and attracting of young people to the area. Studies have shown that this is a critical economic factor that generally leads to the benefit of innovation, arts, new business, population growth and economic stability. What has been noticed is that having access to quality outdoor experiences is one of the key factors of attracting youth to cities and towns.Now may be better than later, as COVID is shaping the way many people will work, as companies move to remote work. More young people will look for affordable, attractive small towns to relocate or remain in. The Tri-Cities area has everything it needs to take advantage of this.ANDREW UNDERWOODJohnson City Whitewater doesn't need to be costlyI have been rafting on the Watauga River since 1974 and have previously worked as a seasonal whitewater rafting guide and trainer on the Watauga River for close to a decade. It is my opinion that the Elizabethton City Council should jettison the expensive WaveShaper proposal that has been presented to the Elizabethton Parks & Recreation Department by its free-riding Surf Betsy supporters.The Watauga River can already be enhanced for whitewater without investing limited tax dollars into expensive WaveShaper platforms — the employees of the Nantahala Outdoor Center reportedly landed the 2013 ICF Freestyle World Championships on the Nantahala River through the efforts of "zealous paddlers on the Nanty who manhandled rocks around the riverbed to craft a high-caliber feature."The Doe River — along its generally shallow stream course running from Valley Forge, through downtown Elizabethton, underneath the Covered Bridge, and finally into the confluence at the Watauga River — has never attracted tax revenue-generating commercial river tubing, let alone whitewater rafting and kayaking, primarily because the Doe River is dependent upon rainfall for the depth of its stream.I would estimate that 93% of the commercial rafting on the Watauga River in Carter County occurs between river mile 34 at the TVA Wilbur Dam and downstream of river mile 29 near the East Tennessee Sport Complex & RV Park.The Elizabethton City Council should be looking eastward and establishing a state government-owned whitewater park at the Bee Cliff Rapids at river mile 33 in order to generate new tax revenues and local businesses opportunities from commercial whitewater rafting, much in the same way as the late Sen. Herman Robinson when he led his state legislative effort to purchase private lands in order to establish the Roan Mountain State Park during the early 1960s.ROBERT D. RITCHIEElizabethton