Differences in rivers

A new white water canoeing course has been created for the upcoming Olympics, in Great Britain. It  is being used for a training ground for those interested in white water rafting.  It is opening up the sport to a whole new group of newbies.
The water course is geared to canoeists but is being used by rafters as well. Here is a video of paddling on the created course.

The water is pumped from a nearby lake and feeds into the water way at a constant 15 cms . By sculpting the channel a series of rapids and drops have been created to simulate a river. This controlled river would offer the competitors the same set of rapids all the time throughout their season. They will be able to reposition some of the rapids by introducing and removing obstacles.
Here in Alberta a similar river would be the dam controlled Kananaskiis River which always runs at the same rate, albeit at a higher rate of 34 cms. This is governed by Trans Alta Utilities for power generation reasons and is timed by power consumption needs. There is little variation in the river features trip to trip.
The Red Deer River, which is the river Otter Rafting Adventures paddles, is a wild river in that it is not dam controlled. Water volumes are dictated by the snow pack in the mountains and vary through out the season. This year the snow pack is above average for this time of year and if it continues, we can expect some high water again. Last year the flow rate peaked in the 200’s cms and this year, it is likely to be higher for a period of time.
Enjoy the video. What’s with lifting your paddles going through the rapids?? Notice the conveyer belt to take the rafts back up to the top? Imagine installing one of those at Cache Hill!