RIPON – Water enthusiasts are dropping rafts into the Stanislaus River expecting the usual lazy float trip that is the trademark of summer on the idyllic waterway between Knights Ferry and Caswell State Park.This year, due to runoff from a wet and snowy spring, the Stanislaus is running significantly faster, higher, and colder.The river has claimed three lives in the past month and put countless others in jeopardy.On Sunday, 13 people had to be rescued between Knights Ferry and Oakdale when their rafts overturned.Ripon Consolidated Fire Department’s boat crew last week had to rescue four rafters who became stranded on the Stanislaus River when their float tube snagged on a branch and ripped open.Ripon Fire Chief Dennis Bitters said it’s something that’s happening at least twice a week on the Ripon segment of the Stanislaus River. The water at times is rushing at more than six times its normal flow for this time of year as large releases from New Melones are made to accommodate the unusually late Sierra snowpack melt.The branch-laden canopy that used to hover over the bank now sits on both sides of theriver at water level and serves as an additional hazard to those using store-bought float tubes made of thin vinyl that tears easily when it gets snagged. The fact almost none of those that the fire department has had to come and rescue were wearing life jackets disturbs Bitters who fears that his firefighters will end up retrieving a body before the summer is over.“We want people to keep in mind that the river is high, it’s flowing at a lot higher volume than normal with currents that are strong and the water is cold – they’re going to fatigue a lot more easily in that water,” Bitters said.