The joint impact of drought conditions and media coverage on the Colorado rafting industry

Abstract

Decreased instream flows are thought to negatively impact river recreation, such as whitewater rafting. Runoff declines are often accompanied by high temperatures, wildfires, and associated media coverage. Very few studies have examined the impact of these accompanying factors, and none have disentangled their influence. Using regression analysis of data from the Arkansas River in Colorado, we find that reduced flows usually decrease the number of whitewater rafting customers, although very high flows also deter rafting activities. More importantly, negative media coverage of wildfires also appears to have adverse impacts on rafting tourism, controlling for instream flows and weather.

Keywords:

• recreation
• whitewater rafting
• drought
• wildfire
• media
• Colorado

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the USDA Risk Management Agency for financial support of this research. We would also like to thank Joe Atwood, Christopher Goemans, Michael Hayes, Charles Howe, and Raymond Supalla for useful suggestions and feedback on this research. Several members of the whitewater rafting community were instrumental in collecting the data and developing an understanding of the impact of drought: Christina Alvord (Western Water Assessment), John Kreski (Arkansas Headwaters Recreational Area), Joe Greiner (Colorado River Outfitters Association) and Greg Felt. Editors Dannele Peck, Jeffrey Peterson, and two anonymous referees greatly improved the manuscript. Of course, we take responsibility for all remaining errors.

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