Improvements proposed for Dryden Dam river access

DRYDEN – Improvements to infrastructure and visitor amenities may be coming to the Dryden Dam site, a public access point to the Wenatchee River that is widely used by whitewater boaters, anglers, Tribes, commercial outfitters, local residents, and visitors.

The initiative is led by nonprofit organization American Whitewater in partnership with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). 

“For a long time, people have been using this site, but there's a lot of challenges with how people flow through the site, some user conflicts, [and] lack of sanitation,” said American Whitewater Director of Policy and Science Tom O’Keefe.

According to O’Keefe, the site was an unmanaged surplus state property before it was acquired by WDFW roughly 20 years ago. Under the agency, the site has been maintained for public use, but no improvements have been made to make it a fully functioning river access site.

About a year ago, the nonprofit received a generous contribution from a local community member wanting to invest in improvements to the site, jumpstarting the process.

“We thought there's an opportunity here to make some basic improvements, to improve flow and the user experience at the site, and work with [WDFW] to be able to provide a higher quality experience,” said O’Keefe.

American Whitewater and WDFW are still in the early stages of identifying priority improvements at the site. In recent months, O’Keefe said he interviewed river outfitters and made site visits with representatives of WDFW, the local irrigation district, Chelan County, the Yakama Nation and Colville Tribes. A preliminary concept was designed to meet the needs of the various interest groups, which was shared with the public during a community workshop on March 10. Preliminary ideas included defined parking, four vault toilets, a designated portage route around the fatal low-head dam, and improved signage indicating the hazard.

“The preliminary ideas are really good,” said local river recreator Mary Morse. “I think it's going to make it a more usable site, more efficient, and it'll also make it available to other people for other recreational uses, which I think is going to be a really good thing.”

The potential improvements would build on the Lower Peshastin Creek Restoration Project, where Cascade Fisheries recently restored a historic channel at the confluence with the Wenatchee River. Located along the Dryden Dam access site, the project included lead remediation, revegetation and a walking path, with plans for interpretive signage.

“I think the Peshastin restoration is such a huge development,” said Sarah Lange, a consultant for American Whitewater. “While [American Whitewater] tends to be heavily focused on the boater needs, I do think there's a lot of potential for investment in this site to service more folks that want to just come down and connect with the river.”

Project organizers said they would be submitting an application for a Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) grant at the end of April, while seeking additional funding through local partners, such as TREAD. Ideally, they added, the donation to American Whitewater would be put into an endowment fund for long-term maintenance and operations costs.

American Whitewater is seeking feedback from anyone who uses the access area, which will help guide the vision for what comes next. According to Lange, the organization plans to collect feedback through the end of March. The survey can be filled out at: tinyurl.com/drydendam.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media