The Denver Post:  Whitewater paddling entails inherent risks, so clients on commercial trips should get meaningful information about rafting companies’ safety records and the hazards they may face. Right now, the state and the industry make it difficult for consumers to find that important information, so both Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the industry should learn from actions taken by other states and industries.

Last year, 508,728 commercial raft trips on 29 river stretches in Colorado generated $162.6 million in economic impact. Fatalities are rare: in the past three years, 18 people died on paid river trips, six of them this year — including this summer’s heart-wrenching case of an 11-year-old boy who bounced off a raft in Brown’s Canyon (the whitewater mecca on the Arkansas River between Buena Vista and Salida) and got trapped by rock.

That rafting company had been suspended for violating the state’s rules, but The Denver Post’s Jennifer Brown had to file a Freedom of Information Act request, pay $100 in fees and wait months before the state would release the data. Indeed, nothing on the state’s website even hints that such records exist.

For consumers to be well-informed, the department should electronically publish notices of when rafting companies violate major safety rules, such as not making all customers wear life vests, or if the outfitters have incidents that send customers to the emergency room. The records also could note how long the outfitter has been in business because a brand-new company may have zero incidents but little river knowledge, while another outfit in business for decades may have had some incidents yet offer far more experience.

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