Greater Des Moines rivers would be easier to use, more connected to bike trails and other recreation hot spots, and more aggressively preserved under a draft water trails plan developed by the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.

The plan recommends that area cities and counties restrict development in flood plains, consider requiring buffer strips, and work to create areas where outfitters and other businesses can draw people to rivers that are at this point underused for recreation. The plan makes river-by-river suggestions, many of them involving new accesses, signs and promotion.

The MPO studied 150 miles of rivers and streams in Greater Des Moines, going so far as to having retired Iowa State University biologist James Pease paddle them all to document wildlife. The MPO also developed an online map that shows individual stretches of river, photos, hazards and attractions.

The intergovernmental agency plans to present the plan to area leaders, city council members and county supervisors before considering final approval in the fall. Local governments will be asked for comments but not formal adoption.

Todd Ashby, MPO executive director, said it will be up to local councils and boards to decide which recommendations to accept. “These are best practices developed with the help of (the Iowa Department of Natural Resources),” he said. “How can we be strategic in the use of resources?”

 

The plan, requested and paid for by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, is designed to improve access to rivers from bike trails, running routes and other recreational facilities. Water trails would be marked to make it easier for paddlers, who also would find new accesses. Kids would find wading areas in still-water areas. In one high-profile element, Greater Des Moines officials would be asked to consider removing downtown dams so the river would be open to kayakers and canoeists.

“People throughout the metro are always asking, ‘What is next?’ ” said Greg Edwards, a member of the MPO’s water trails committee and president CEO of the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau. “What do we need? We talk about recreational facilities and we talk about water. The Principal Riverwalk is great for running and biking and walking, but we don’t utilize the river, and it’s probably one of our biggest assets.”