“There is a historic amount of water right now: faster, colder and more deadly than we’ve seen in recent years,” said a spokesperson for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. After a winter deluge, California rivers are too dangerous to enjoy:
KERN COUNTY, Calif. — Gwyny Pett has been visiting the Kern River for decades, camping there as a girl and then taking her own children, now grown, to splash in shallows so calm they felt like a private pool. She has seen it in dry cycles like last year, when the river was difficult to explore not because of surging water, but because she turned her ankles on the exposed pebbles.
Since April, at least 16 people have died or gone missing in rivers across the state, according to The Mercury News, including two young siblings who were swept away on the Kings River in Fresno County in May. On Wednesday, a kayaker died on the Kern River, about 20 miles upstream from the campground where Pett was sitting.
But people die every year because they underestimate the currents they cannot see, often without wearing life jackets or knowing how to swim. This year, officials are warning everyone to take heed, especially those who have safely dipped in a river during normal years and may feel overconfident.
On Friday, Sheriff John Zanoni of Fresno County announced that his office was reopening the San Joaquin River because of lower water levels, but the Kings remained closed. Lori Meza, a spokesperson for the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, said that a swimming ban would be too difficult to enforce because of the number of agencies and property owners that would have to be involved. But she said the department has worked to spread the word: Wear a life jacket if you are anywhere near the water. Know where you have cell service in case you need to call for help.
Not far from where Pett lounged in the shade at Sandy Flat Campground, newer campers said they had heard the warnings and were content to bear witness to the river’s revival.
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