Emergency funding will enable the National Park Service to build a new Colorado River takeout near Hite, Utah/NPS file
Emergency funding through the Fiscal Year 23 Disaster Supplemental appropriation will enable Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah to embark on a number of projects, including a new Colorado River takeout ramp for boaters at Hite, Utah.
The $166 million in funding has park staff "prioritizing a relocated Hite takeout for Cataract Canyon river trips, a mid-lake fuel station, and sustainable deep-water access at the Antelope Point Public Ramp," Superintendent Michelle Kerns wrote in a park newsletter. "Also included in this funding package is a project for lake-wide salvage of derelict vessels, a new dock system for Rainbow Bridge National Monument, and continued extension of the Stateline Auxiliary Ramp."
Additionally, there's money to support a "once-in-a-generation project" to perform cultural surveys of lake shorelines that become exposed as the water levels recede, Kerns noted.
Regarding the river takeout at Hite, park staff had previously undertaken hydrology assessments that identified feasible recommended locations.
"The location selected for this new ramp is on the south side of the Colorado River, just west of the bridge at Hite," the park newsletter said. "We are moving quickly to obtain schematic designs and begin our environmental assessment process. A design build contract, which culminates in construction, will then be announced by our project managers at Denver Service Center. We don’t have solid dates for construction start and completion at this time. Once we have schematic designs, the NPS will begin the environmental and cultural compliance process. That National Environmental Policy Act process will inform our contracting timelines for a design build contractor."
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