The U.S. National Whitewater Center (USNWC) is an outdoor recreation and sports training facility for skating, rafting, kayaking, canoeing, rock climbing, mountain biking and hiking that opened to the public on November 4, 2006. The center is located in Charlotte, North Carolina, on about 1,300 acres (530 ha) adjacent to the Catawba River, with more than 45 miles (72 km) of developed trail.
A view of the main complex across the Long Canal behind the M-Wave.
The center was inspired by the Penrith Whitewater Stadium, built for the 2000 Olympics. The main feature of the Center is the largest and most complex artificial recirculation river in the world. The facility cost $38 million to build and $6.8 million a year to operate. The river channels were designed by three-time Olympian Scott Shipley.
In June 2016, prompted by the death of a teenage park ranger from Ohio, the USNWC voluntarily closed the park’s flow channels after finding Naegleria fowleri in park waters. 1-micron particulate filters, an ozone system, and chlorination systems were installed before the rough water reopened in 2017. Meanwhile, onshore and Catawba River activities remained open for business, and the rapids reopened for a brief period in late summer 2016 after thorough cleaning and dewatering.
USNWWC Whitewater features.
The Center’s recirculating river is filled with 12 million gallons of well water, which is purified every 24 hours using a filtration system and ultraviolet light. The Whitewater River has a total of 3,750 feet (1,140 m) of channel divided between two channels: an Olympic standard slalom competition channel and a longer wilderness channel that splits around the island above. . The rapids are Class II through IV and can be navigated by canoe, kayak or guided raft. The various channels are connected by an upper and lower basin, which are connected by a conveyor belt.
The facility is equipped with seven 620 hp submersible pumps made by Flygt. Each channel is watered by three pumps. Six pumps will water both canals simultaneously. The electricity cost for each pump is about $45 per hour. When only one canal is in use, a low-pressure airbag is triggered, Obermyer gates separate the top of the Wilderness or Competition Channel from the upper pond, preventing water from entering. Since both channels have the same drop, 6.4 meters (21 feet), the additional length of the Wilderness Channel makes it more gentle.
Most of the drainage devices are natural boulders cemented in place, but sometimes movable plastic bollards attached to the bottom are used.