(PUEBLO, Colo.) — Pueblo Water announced the grand opening of Waterworks Park on Saturday, Oct. 19, at 10 a.m., where guests can view the completed rehabilitation of the Southside Diversion Dam, just north of City Park.

The Waterworks Park project created a passageway allowing users to ride the river unimpeded, improving safety, as the site had previously had multiple accidents and fatalities. Construction started in November of 2023.

The objectives of the project were:

Improving the safety of the section of the Arkansas River from below Pueblo Dam to near Runyon Lake and making it fully navigatable

Creating a fish passage for migration

Providing additional recreation opportunities

Creating better river health

Keeping Pueblo Water’s redundant southside intake functional and allowing the supply of the Riverside Dairy Ditch irrigation flow.