“During Covid, a lot of people found the outdoors,” said Mike Howard, the superintendent for the Auburn State Recreation Area, which includes two forks of the American River about 35 miles northeast of Sacramento. “But as they come to their favorite spot in June or on the Fourth of July, where swimming was relatively safe last year, this year is going to be very different.”
So far, at least three people have drowned on the American River this year. Mr. Howard said that the state recreation area now has swift water lifeguards at some areas, but the currents are too unsafe for them to swim after a visitor in distress.
“We’re very focused on prevention,” he said.
In Fresno County, as waters rose in March, officials closed the Kings and San Joaquin Rivers to anyone except professional rafting companies and threatened violators with $225 fines. Tony Botti, a spokesman for the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, said that compliance has been high.
“Unfortunately, the tragedy of losing two children really woke them up,” Mr. Botti said. “It’s life over recreation.”
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.
The Kern River has a reputation as a tempestuous beauty — an alluring playground for rafters and kayakers (its north fork is one of the steepest white water rivers in North America) but potentially treacherous for those unable to resist.
Mothers in Bakersfield forbid their children from diving in, lest they be swept away. Merle Haggard, the region’s pre-eminent troubadour, vowed in a song that he would “never swim Kern River again” after a lover drowned in its waters. A famous sign near the mouth of a winding canyon road to campgrounds and Kernville, an Old West-inflected town that serves as a base for river recreation, displays a grim tally: “325 LIVES LOST SINCE 1968.”