Wingfield Park

Truckee River in Wingfield Park, downtown Reno, Nevada. The Truckee flows right thru Reno--in fact, the original settlement was at the ferry Wingfield ran--and there's been a big push in recent years to make the corridor along the river high-quality public space, the "Riverwalk." Wingfield Park is a centerpiece of those efforts, with a whitewater park on the river and places for open-air concerts and such, as well as ongoing special events. The Reno River Festival, featuring kayak competitions, is under way right now and is expected to be spectacular with the extraordinary river flows at present. Flows are around 6000 cfs (cubic feet per second), compared with more like 1500 cfs normally. But the authorities, because of those same flows, are warning everyone to stay away from the water, and the kayakers are, in essence, saying, "We're trained professionals. Everyone else stay out of the water!" There is a big rescue presence at the exhibition in case anyone falls in and gets swept away.

This photo looks across one of the (artificial) rapids in the park where the kayaks will surf. That's the western (upstream) tip of Wingfield Island, in the park. It's accessed by the footbridge on the left. The inset shows this rapid during low water flow in 2014.