The water moving down the Stanislaus River is higher, faster and colder than it has been in nearly a decade.
And those responsible for rescuing swimmers and rafters that are in distress have a simple message for the weekend warriors who think that they’re going to get a lazy afternoon in the water like they have in the recent past.
Stay home.
With such treacherous conditions – the cold, deep water flowing out of New Melones Reservoir now coming in droves as water managers clear space for the rapidly melting record Sierra snowpack – drastically altering the behavior of the water, Ripon Consolidated Fire District Chief Dennis Bitters is urging that only experienced kayakers and rafters using professional equipment attempt to enter the water for the foreseeable future.
“That water is cold and it’s flowing fast and people misjudge it and think, ‘Oh well, if we fall out we’re just going to be able to swim,’” Bitters said. “They don’t realize that once they get caught, they’re at the mercy of the river – wherever they end up, hopefully they’re above the water.”
In recent years, Bitters has had to deal with notifying the public of the massive resource drain that emerges when people who don’t know the Stanislaus River or the reality of the conditions misjudge their location or the amount of time it takes for them to traverse the stretch.
But all those instances had to do with the unusually low amount of water flowing during California’s historic drought.
Now Bitters is concerned that people who don’t realize the drastic change in conditions will get themselves in a bad situation – the light rafts and pool toys that are commonly used by recreational floaters getting snagged on bushes or trees that are now under water – and end up having to fight currents, snags, submerged obstacles and 50-degree water.

Emergency agencies
bracing for tragedies
Memorial Day weekend
The fact that the unofficial start of summer, Memorial Day weekend, is upcoming and temperatures are expected to remain above 90 degrees doesn’t help.
“This weekend is going to be a real challenge and we’re preparing for a heightened state of readiness,” said Bitters, noting that his rescue crews have already been called out twice so far this year. “You put these elements together and add alcohol and no personal flotation devices, and bad things are going to happen.
“The river has been too low to have drownings, and I hope this isn’t the year that we see a change in that. But it very well could be because of the speed and the temperature of the water.”
Bitters recommends that only experienced kayakers or those with sturdy, professional-grade rafts attempt to navigate the swift water – and even then, only doing so with PFDs and safety equipment like wet or dry suits in the event they find themselves in the water. Adding alcohol, he said, only makes a dangerous situation worse.
And Bitters isn’t alone in his concern about what could happen this year in and around the swollen river.
Lathrop-Manteca Fire District Battalion Chief Larry Madoski said conditions along the stretch of the Stanislaus River from Knight’s Ferry all the way to the confluence with the San Joaquin River are unlike anything that has been seen in recent years. He said they certainly aren’t suited for recreational floaters who don’t have the proper equipment or experience to handle them.
“The Stanislaus is really popular and the last time I checked it was flowing at around 5,000 cubic feet per second – that makes it a different river than what most people have gotten used to,” Madoski said. “The water is cold and it’s fast and there’s a ton of debris in the water and when you have people that are in light inflatables, once they’re punctured and they lose the only flotation device they have it can become very dangerous very quickly.”
An emergency, Madoski said, emerges very quickly once somebody finds themselves fighting with the current in temperatures that have been measured recently as low as 49 degrees.
Once a person hits water that cold, he said, the cold shock response activates in the body and there’s a gasp, and blood flow begins to redirect from the extremities back to the core organs even before the fight-or-flight response kicks in. For people who are clinging to a tree or a branch to keep them from getting swept away, it becomes much more difficult as the temperature and the lack of blood flow makes it harder to grip firmly.

Seven rafters dumped
into frigid river Sunday
as raft washes awaty
Madoski said he was grateful for the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire District’s response on Sunday rescuing seven people from the frigid waters when their raft overturned and washed away. Some of those people were Lathrop residents.
The City of Manteca Fire Department also responded to the river incident with their water rescue boat.
And like Bitters, he doesn’t recommend anybody without the proper equipment attempt to enter the water for “the foreseeable future.”
“The thing about those commercially made rafts, other than the fact that they’re made of materials that are much more durable, is they’re compartmentalized – if there’s a puncture, only that compartment will lose air where other sorts of ramps will go completely flat and eventually put people in the water.
“The river looks appealing, and when it’s hot – when it’s 100 degrees outside – people think they can just get in the water and get out really quickly. But that water is moving too fast right now and when people don’t have life jacket on – you should have a life jacket on if you’re anywhere near the river right now – you end up with a recipe for disaster.”