Category Archives: safety

Bike Trail, Rafting, safety, Water, Wildlife

Sacramento highly rated for parks

According to the Trust for Public Land’s Parkscore index, Sacramento tied for third in a rating of the nation’s top park systems with Minneapolis taking top honors.

New York came in second and joining Sacramento in the number three spot is Boston and San Francisco.

Three factors comprise the ratings: park access, which measures the percentage of residents within a half-mile walk of a park; park size, which is based on the community’s median park size and percentage of total city area dedicated to parks; and a category that combines number of playgrounds per 10,000 residents and per capita park spending.

The report’s profile of cities mentions Land Park (most visited) and the American River Parkway (largest) in Sacramento.

Rafting, safety, Water

Sacramento officials launch push for more life jackets on the rivers

With the Saturday drowning of a 16-year-old on the Sacramento River and record heat in the forecast, city and county leaders are pushing for a wider distribution of life vests on Sacramento’s rivers.

Supervisor Phil Serna said he asked county staff and reached out to City Councilmen Steve Cohn and Steve Hansen – both with popular swimming spots in their districts – to “do what is necessary to have life jackets available to the public ASAP.”

Serna said he’s planning to have life vests distributed at Paradise Beach and Sand Cove Park near where the 16-year-old drowned along Garden Highway.

Witnesses said the boy, whose name has not been released, was swimming with a 13-year-old friend – both without life jackets – when he went under the water and never came back up.

It was unclear whether the life jacket distribution would apply to other beaches as well, Cohn said.

In an email to The Bee, Serna said there is some urgency to getting life jackets into the hands of recreational swimmers, with temperatures expected to top 100 degrees by the end of the week. The National Weather Service predicts a high of 109 degrees on Saturday.

More at ModBee.com >>>

 

 

Fish, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Study finds unsafe mercury levels in fish from Delta watershed

The first comprehensive study of rivers and streams in California has found that sport fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed have higher concentrations of mercury and PCBs than anywhere else in the state.

The survey adds to the history of high mercury levels in sport fish in the Sacramento region and dovetails with recent research that found consumption of sport fish from certain Delta region streams remains high, despite knowledge of the high mercury levels.

The sport fish survey, conducted by the State Water Resources Control Board, surveyed 16 species from 63 locations in 2011.

“While past monitoring looked at fish contaminants in lakes, rivers and streams, it was not focused on providing a statewide picture,” said Jay Davis, senior environmental scientist with the San Francisco Estuary Institute.

The survey piggybacks on similar surveys done on lakes and reservoirs as well as coastal areas – all of which found mercury to be the most common contaminant in fish. The survey is meant to provide information for future action and monitoring.

In the river survey, the highest contamination was found in sport fish high in the food chain – such as smallmouth and largemouth bass, striped bass and the Sacramento pikeminnow.

The river sites that yielded highly contaminated fish included the American River at Discovery Park and the south fork of the American River at Coloma. Fish tested from the San Joaquin River pier at Point Antioch and at Louis Park in Stockton also showed high mercury levels.

More at The Modesto Bee >>>

Bike Trail, safety

American River parkway attempted sexual attack leads to arrest

A man suspected of attempted sexual assault on a woman along the American River Parkway was taken into custody this morning.

Police said the 9:45 a.m. Tuesday attempted sexual assault took place near the bike trail at H Street. The woman told citizens in the area about the incident and police were summoned.

Police set up a perimeter and sent out a “reverse 911” to area residents, telephoning neighbors about the suspect in hope that the community could help find the attacker.

More at SacBee.com >>>

Events, Rafting, safety, Water

Life jackets recommended for holiday fun in the water

Memorial Day weekend traditionally marks the beginning of the summer recreation season, drawing boaters and swimmers to Sacramento region waterways.

With that in mind, public safety officials are urging people recreating in area rivers, lakes and streams to wear life jackets. Even though the river flow is low this year, they stress that strong currents exist below the surface and the water is cold.

The American River Parkway Foundation announced this week that is taking on the responsibility of purchasing and supplying life vests for Kids Don’t Float, a program that lends life vests to children during the summer months at seven access points along the American River.

The Kids Don’t Float program was initiated in 2003 by Sacramento County and its Emergency Medical Services Agency. Since then, the program has provided more than 2,000 new life vests annually to stock river access stations. Due to ongoing budget cuts, however, the county recently discontinued funding for the program, leading the American River Parkway Foundation to assume responsibility.

The foundation, a nonprofit agency, manages volunteer and donor programs to help preserve and maintain the 23-mile stretch of the parkway from the confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery.

The life vest stations will be re-supplied and inspected twice a week from Memorial Day through Labor Day by the Drowning and Accident Rescue Team, and Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District. Life jacket stations include two sites at Discovery Park, Ancil Hoffman Park, Howe Avenue river access, Watt Avenue river access, River Bend Park and the Sunrise river access. Life jackets should be returned to the appropriate stations at the end of the day so other people can use them. Each station will offer ten to 15 life vests in various sizes.

More at SacBee.com >>>

Bike Trail, Fish, Rafting, safety, Wildlife

Last day to reserve campsite for weekend

This is Wednesday — and that means this is the last day to book a campsite reservation at a state park for a Friday arrival on Memorial Day Weekend.

A detailed recreation forecast for the upcoming weekend will appear in Thursday’s Chronicle and at sfchronicle.com.

The first campgrounds to sell out are coastal sites. The last to sell out are in the valleys, foothills and Redwood Empire.

As of Wednesday morning, these parks still had campsites available, from just one day to all three days for the upcoming weekend:

Greater Bay Area: Big Basin & Little Basin Redwoods, Brannan Island, China Camp, Henry Cowell, Mount Diablo, Portola Redwoods.

Coast: Salt Point, San Simeon.

Foothills & valleys: Clear Lake, Clear Lake cabins, Colusa-Sacramento River, Folsom Lake, Fremont Peak, Indian Grinding Rock, Lake Oroville, San Luis, Turlock Lake, Woodson Bridge.

More at SFGate.com >>>

Bike Trail, Events, Rafting, safety

Holiday weekend has a parkway booze ban

Sacramento County officials remind the public not to consume alcohol on the American River Parkway this Memorial Day weekend.

Alcohol consumption will be illegal on the parkway Saturday through Monday. County officials promise to enforce the ordinance that allows the county to temporarily ban alcohol consumption. Violators may be cited or arrested.

Open containers will not be allowed anywhere on the parkway between Watt and Hazel avenues.

More at SacBee.com >>>

 

Rafting, safety, Water, Wildlife

White-water season gets mixed reviews

With snowmelt trickling down the mountainsides, white-water enthusiasts are bubbling in anticipation of big rapids. But this year, with low snowfall, rivers without dam-controlled releases are in for a short season.

“A little bit lower water does not mean there’s not good rapids,” said Janeen Stewart, operator of Earthtrek Expeditions, a rafting company based in Lotus, Calif. “Actually, some of the rapids are better because there are drops.”

Rafting companies that run the American River, Truckee River and Carson River are kicking off the white-water season. Though the flows aren’t bursting, water management through the dams will prolong their seasons on some stretches through the summer.

“We do raft three rivers, the North Fork, the South Fork and the Middle Fork of the American River,” said Brynn Allen, a guide with Adventure Connection, based in Lotus, Calif. “The North Fork is the one of the three that does not have dam release. There’s not enough water in that river to be runnable right now.”

More at TahoeDailyTribune.com >>>

Rafting, safety, Video

Shallow Parts of American River Pose Unusual Safety Risk

While parts of the American River are shallow enough to scrape the bottom, others are safe enough to jump from nearby bridges even though it is illegal.

“You just have to swim to the bottom and if you can touch the bottom, you really do not want to jump there,” said Josh Harding, who swims in the river.

Over the weekend, one teen broke their leg from jumping in the river.

Rather than use a boat to rescue them, Metro Fire said the water was too shallow so they walked.

Now Metro Fire is cautioning others on safety, suggesting swimmers find a swimming hole or an area without fast-moving water that is also deep enough.

Normally, the Folsom Dam and Nimbus Dam release water at 4,000 cubic feet per second, but a drier than regular season has them releasing at 1,000 CFS.

More at Fox40.com >>>