"This is the year": Local rafting companies take advantage of safe way to travel swelling rivers
LOTUS (CBS13) - Up near Lotus, a group of rafters passed by on placid American River waters.
"We've had a tremendous season," says Robert Rodgers, a recreational rafter in the area. "[The river is] the highest I've ever seen it. First time at these flow levels."
But that calm will soon give way to class II and III rapids a bit further downstream.
"This is the year," says raft guide Andrew Ahlberg. "If you've never been, you want to come out this year. It's like having a powder day every day, all summer. "
Since the beginning of the spring, there has been a persistent call for safety along the state's waterways as record snowpack continues to melt. Rafting company owners like Chad Richards say that the message is being somewhat misconstrued. It's safe with a guided trip and people that know the river.
"It's more of an issue with people coming out and doing things on their own without the experience and training to do it," Richards says. "We run the river multiple times and see it multiple times with guides and do training trips. We are also swift water rescue trained."
The river speeds are substantially different than last year. Around this time, the Lotus area of the South Fork of the American River was running at roughly 1,500 cubic feet per second. Currently, it's running around 5,000 cubic feet per second. Up in the Truckee River area, some raft guide companies have delayed their opening or considered shutting down for the season due to safety concerns.
Downriver on the American, rafting companies are taking extra precautions but giving their customers their best chance to be a part of a historic river season. This also means that there are better chances for the river to be less congested and less of a chance for a human-caused issue.
"Normally, in a drought year, this river is dam-controlled so it releases water for rafting for a three-hour window," Richards explained. "So everybody's rafting on that 3-4 hour window. So on a weekend, it can just be raft, raft, raft. But with 24-hour flows and higher flows of water, the rafts are more spread so you get more of an experience on your own in that way."
Rafting companies tout their safety record as a way to get people in the river without risking their life. The biggest endorsement came from law enforcement agencies toward the start of the year. The Placer County Sheriff's Office told CBS News during a story two weeks ago that rafting with professional guides was the only way to enjoy the river safely and effectively.
"There are a lot of companies that are hiring safety kayakers as well to go along with the trips so that we have the extra precaution to pick everybody up and make sure they don't float downstream into a dangerous area," Ahlberg says. "We did an extensive amount of training. We've been traveling around, hitting a bunch of different rivers because we're running a lot of stuff we don't normally get to run."
Experienced recreational rafters like Rodgers say going as a group is essential.
"If you've never done it before, make sure you go on a guided trip," he explains. "If you want to get out on your own, start with a swift water rescue class — there's a few places that offer it here — and always be boating with buddies."
As the summer really gets underway and the season kicks up for those looking to use the river safely.
"This is, if not once a lifetime, it's once every ten years that something like this happens," Richards concludes.
