Change is full of peril and opportunity and a little bit of fun as kayakers and rafters discovered this weekend as they attempted to negotiate the newly redesigned Whitewater Park.

Smelter Rapid, as many discovered, has sharpened fangs, and more than a few river runners were bitten.

“We are seeing more rafts flip at higher flows,” said Andy Corra, one of the owners of 4Corners Riversports. “It just takes time to figure out the new rapids.”

This is an exciting prospect for all boaters, both commercial and private, said Jesse Mueller, a raft guide for Mountain Waters.

Devoted paddlers and rafters now have 12 new rapid features to maneuver in Whitewater Park at Santa Rita Park, which is now open for runs after completion of in-stream features.

Changes made to the Whitewater Park can alter the rating of the rapids depending on the river levels, Corra said.

At its lowest point, Smelter Rapid is considered a Class 3 rapid. At its highest point, it is considered a Class 4, a big-water rapid.

With current river levels surpassing 5,080 cfs, some of the holes, especially for rafters are more challenging.

These changes have modernized the Whitewater Park, said Scott Shipley, Olympic paddler and designer of Durango’s Whitewater Park.

“What you have out there right now are world champion quality play features,” Shipley said. “If Durango wanted to host a freestyle world championship, this water park would win that bid in a heartbeat. It is very much going to give Durango a place on the map in terms of international whitewater.”

Even at lower flows, the features are better and more dynamic than they ever have been.

The lower waters will still have some waves and hits for people, which is something that has not happened in the past, Mueller said.

At higher flows, the river can be a little formidable, but it is still navigable, he said.

Added features include eddies, flow deflectors and four bank-to-bank drop features that create large rapids.

The city of Durango has been making small recreational enhancements to the Animas River since 1986, said John Brennan, avid paddler and member of the Animas River Task Force.

Shipley, who used to be a professional paddler, came to Durango in the ‘90s to compete in a Whitewater Park competition.

“It was very well known, people had it on their radar,” Shipley said. “Over time, the reputation faltered a little bit because the features had become eroded or outdated.”

In 2003, Shipley returned to Durango to help create a design to revamp the play features of the Whitewater Park, making it more enjoyable for boaters.

After creating conceptual and preliminary designs, Shipley helped the city file for a recreational in-channel diversion water right for the Animas River.

In order to officially claim the water right, the water had to be captured in a structure, Corra said.

The water right guarantees a certain amount of water will flow through the city in perpetuity.

In November 2013, the city began installing permanent control and capture structures in the Whitewater Park, Brennan said.

The city now owns water for recreational purposes in the Animas, Shipley said.

“This means that any future developments or diversions are junior to the Whitewater Park itself,” he said. “We have protected the river to flow freely.”

Boulders have been placed from one river bank to the other to create the waves, said Scott McClain, landscape architect for the city of Durango.

The other structures are deflectors along the riverbank that help push the water into the larger structures, McClain said.

These structures create continuous rapids from the top of the Whitewater Park to the bottom, Shipley said.

“I think the changes will effect the boating community positively,” McClain said. “People are excited about it, and we are getting good feedback.”

Before the changes were implemented, the Whitewater Park was more of a slalom course with flat waves. Now, it’s more freestyle-oriented, and that likely will draw in more boaters, said Kyle Stewart, a raft guide at Mild to Wild.

These changes will make the rapids more consistent throughout the year, said Drew Kensinger, avid boater and Mild to Wild raft guide.

“The idea was to turn Durango back into the whitewater mecca that it used to be,” Mueller said. “That was pretty well achieved. All of the kayakers and rafters really appreciate it and are quite excited about it.”

tferraro@durangoherald.com