User:Bridge989/sandbox

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Test. --Richard 19:14, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

This is a draft (I have not put the citations in yet) about rec and tourism and the bow. --Richard 15:24, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

The recreation and tourism sector of the Bow developed closely alongside the river’s water irrigation projects. Projects such as the McGregor, Chestermere, and Ghost dams were originally built for either agricultural or electrical purposes but are now as also very important for the recreational facilities they offer. Since their construction, the dams along the Bow River have played a central role in the developing of the adjacent communities. Two key examples of the connection between irrigation and recreation and tourism are the Chestermere and Basano dams. Following the construction of the Chestermere Dam in 1907, housing development began to occur around the neighbouring lake and in 1992 Chestermere was declared a town. After a three year refurbishing project ending in 1987, the town of Bassano, located approximately 8 kilometres to the northeast of the dam, began advertising the Bassano dam as a tourist attraction for the town. At this point the Bassano dam now also started offering group tours, fishing and picnic areas, and a scenic viewpoint. Communities have also recently begun to appear around Ghost Dam as well.

CALGARY’S BOW RIVER PADDLE AROUND In 1904 the Bow River weir was constructed close to Calgary’s downtown core in order to divert water into irrigation districts. Since its construction an unfortunate side effect of the weir was that it created a lethal hydraulic wave immediately downstream of it. Because rafting, canoeing, and kayaking down the Bow River are such popular summer activities, there had been many fatalities. Furthermore, because fish were not able to pass through the structure, they too became trapped in the hydraulic wave and a dense, unnatural concentration of pelicans congregated immediately following the weir. In order to combat the hydraulic wave, in August 2007 the Province of Alberta through the Alberta Lottery fund, in conjunction with the Calgary Foundation and the City of Calgary, began construction of the Bow River Weir paddle around, named the Harvie Passage. Altogether, the paddle around cost 6.4 million dollars and was completed in the spring of 2008.