A project to improve salmon spawning habitat in the American River has some kayakers and rafters concerned that they may lose a favorite area of rapids.

The project, which started Sept. 3, involves using bulldozers to place 6,000 tons of large gravel cobbles in the riverbed near River Bend Park and Arden Way. The gravel is needed to create spawning habitat for wild chinook salmon, which make nests for their eggs in the rocks.

The work is occurring directly downstream from the parkway pedestrian bridge between River Bend Park and William Pond Recreation Area. This stretch of river includes the Arden rapids, an area favored by kayakers and rafters.

“It was a bit of a surprise to see all that rock in there and basically changing the whole flow of the river,” said Sven Lund, organizer of the SacYakkers kayak club. “For people going in it for the first time, it seems like an unnatural flow to the river and they will get caught on the gravel.”

Lund and others eventually learned that the right side of the river has water deep enough to pass.