Massive snowmelt is making for an epic whitewater season, but some local authorities are closing rivers for now out of safety concerns.
A river whose twists and turns have earned names like “Troublemaker,” “Satan’s Cesspool” and “Dead Man’s Drop” warrants respect — even when years of drought have tamed its rushing waters. This, of course, is not such a year.
Eighth grade students from Golden Valley Charter School gather for a safety meeting at American Whitewater Expeditions before rafting down the South Fork of the American River on Thursday, May 4, 2023, near Coloma, Calif. “Please let this incident serve as an example of why we are warning the public to stay out of the river,” the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said last week.
“It’s mostly a concern with people going in on their own and not having the experience and us having to go in and rescue them, to prevent anyone drowning or getting hurt, or our swift-water team getting hurt rescuing someone,” Britton said. Ferguson said Zephyr is taking more precautions than usual, screening rafters, raising its minimum age, requiring participants to take a swimming test and advising the inexperienced to consider trips later in the summer when water flows calm down.
“Everyone who’s not a skilled boater wants to get on the water, and it’s dangerous,” Johnson said. “I’m expecting, unfortunately, a lot of deaths.”
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