Opposing sides in the battle over river rafting threatened to take their case straight to state voters Friday. Both sides filed two dozen possible ballot initiatives to either affirm or deny the “right to float" down Colorado rivers. Both sides also said they would be happy to forget about the ballot initiatives if they get their way in the Legislature.

It seems to happen to every legislator at least once in his or her time at the Capitol. A bill you are certain is noncontroversial becomes far more complicated and contentious than you expected. That is the case with a bill I am sponsoring, House Bill 1051, which establishes an annual reporting requirement for water providers.

Former Democratic state Sen. Michael Feeley, a lawyer-lobbyist who spent seven years as Minority Leader, is behind an advertising campaign aimed at torpedoing a rafting rights bill floated in the House by Rep. Kathleen Curry.

A bill that could buoy or sink Colorado's rafting industry and affect hundreds of thousands of river enthusiasts and landowners may have floated through the House, but it's on the rocks in the Senate. The Capitol battle pits two core Colorado values against each other: the love of the outdoors and the allegiance to personal property rights.

There will be an opportunity for members of the public to view and comment on the proposed design for two whitewater features to be constructed in the Town Park stretch of the San Juan River later this month. Construction of at least one of the proposed features is tentatively slated for this spring, with the possibility of an additional feature being constructed in the fall.