The main reservoir release gate will remain at 160 cfs, and the fish hatchery will remain at 10 cfs today, Monday, July 29, 2024.
RRP: 185cfs+/- Sixx (with a bit of extra native flows in the river on top of the dam release) is shaped steep so bring your normal short board to surf Sixx. Benni’s is surfable and Chiclets has a clean wave on it to learn to how to surf a green faced wave and make good turns on it.
Chatfield Reservoir is basically full and looks like water calls are being made by the farmers. Hopefully they keep sending water as it is a dry hot week ahead.
Pueblo: 910cfs+/- P-town’s new wave will be a very good wave to surf.
If you are going to surf Pueblo today, the construction week is back on up river at P-town’s new wave so give them wide birth during the work hours by sticking very close to the river waters edge and stay only down by the new wave.
If for some reason there is active equipment in the river actually at the new wave or even down river from the new wave (typically right below the pedestrian bridge working on the back-pool), refrain from even looking like you are going to surf and walk your board and stuff back up the sidewalk path to your parked car until they are done.
Do as Pueblo local ripper surfer Ross Determan posted up the other day about being able to surf the P-town new wave right now “… be respectful and mindful of the workers. If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be surfing. I hate to loose it until the official opening. Which is TBD.”
Just think how when they are doing heavy machinery work say down river from the P-town new wave and they have to worry about constantly looking over their shoulder for surfers looking like they are going jump in the river just up stream from them to potentially float down toward the work being done…. Yeah, that is when the foreman is called, the cops are called, your mom is called, and we all get banned from the new wave including the locals until the flow is done for the season while waiting for the ribbon cutting day is announced/completed…. The commissioning opening day of the Waterworks Park is slated to be this fall sometime.
Scout: 542+/- Apparently the back pool must have been helped out by the high flows earlier in the season because the wave continues to be fast and steep even at the mid flows like what Scout is seeing right now. Surf Scout early in the morning to beat the crowded line-up.
Just under three weeks to go for VFMP at Scout before the BV/Salida locals hope the water turns off for the season so Pocket Wave (not Staircase Wave) construction can start to make Pocket Wave look like Scout 3.0.
Here is the AHRA link where you can read about pending water flow changes that impacts Scout and the other waves that we really don’t bother with up river from Scout. Click on the “WaterFlow Announcements” tab to see the daily planned release info.- https://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/ArkansasHeadwatersRecreationArea/Pages/Waterflow.aspx
River Surfer Tips: Absolute best way to check the flows at any given moment for all your favorite waves is at one quick glance via the “RiverApp”. Here is my write-up on the RiverApp. https://denversurfreport.blog/2023/05/01/install-the-riverapp-for-cfs-flow-info/
And for the haters out there when they try to dissuade you from reading or subscribing to the Denver Surf Report by saying just look at the flow gauges and there is “No need for all the other Bs” on the Denver Surf Report.
Well the “Bs” that The Denver Surf Report was initially created as a vehicle to give the metro-Denver river surf community a head’s up from the Chatfield water managers of planned release of water for the day before it impacts the gauges (info not provided to the public).
The Denver Surf Report has grown to provide insight to the river waves in or near Denver similar to Surfline that is done for ocean surfing. Then again Surfline is hated on until they want to plan out their surf day at the ocean and they actually read Surfline for the day(s) ocean surf forecast….
Check out Surfline if you are going to take an ocean surf trip. Suggest if you are going to take an ocean surf trip, you subscribe for a month of Surfline to let you know when at what places to surf. Surfline- https://www.surfline.com
River Surf Gear: Hat-tip to local bodyboard ripper, Jimmy Switzer, for quickly hunting down the surf helmet that Felipe Toledo was just surfing live at big Teahupo’o at the Olympics today. It is an Oakley surf helmet that actually gets good safety review from scientific testing by Virginia Tech’s Helmet Lab.
Yes, how about that for a change, actually lab testing surfin gear…. Maybe the QR leashes we use for river surfing in Colorado should be tested at the The Outside Lab @ CU Denver??? How about it AW, ACA, BadFish, NRS, XM, and all those cheap-o crappy Amazon companies selling inexpensive QR river surf leashes?
Here is the link to the Oakley “WTR ICON” surf helmet that will be available for purchase this November- https://oakley-media-hub.prezly.com/protection-enabling-performance-oakleys-breakthrough-surf-helmet-wtr-icon-allows-surfers-to-push-their-limits
Olympic Surfing: Speaking of Olympic Surfing… Today on NBC Peacock 11am to 8pm (mountain time) is the third round of the Olympics surf comp starting off with the mens at Teahupo’o on the island of Tahiti (French Polynesia). Amazing big waves today with good barrels as long as the winds stay off it.
Personally I have very mixed emotions about how they are using Teahupo’o as an Olympics venue. There was no reason for the new judging tower they built that damaged the reef when they built it for the Olympics…. The Olympic Committee, sponsors, and even the surfer athletes have a big debt to payback to the Mother Earth, the ocean, and the people of Tahiti…. The surfing is incredible though today if you get a chance to watch it.
Hope you enjoyed the lengthy surf report this Monday that was purposely chock-full of a double dose of “Bs”….
LBK
The Denver Surf Report 