Update: the concrete barrier that caused the accident has been removed
Report by Dawna Little Zukirmi, a local livery operator
I arrived on scene
after the rescue was already under way. The KSL report was not exactly
accurate. There were no rafts involved. The water was flowing a little below
average, at 409 cfs coming out of Echo. There is a concrete barricade that used
to be a functional part of this diversion dam:
https://goo.gl/maps/oFwF5K5Jkt8KmRnV8
Last June, the high water pushed the barricade a foot or
two down stream from the dam, so it was no longer a functional part of the
diversion structure and was no longer helping to divert water. It had become a
hazard at that time. The barricade is laying on it's side, creating a concrete
shelf where current pushes under the shelf. It is not visible from upstream
until you come right up on it, at which point it is too late to adjust your
path. It is right where the main run and best little soaking wave used to
exist. So people who have been there in years past would likely head right for
that spot. The safest place to run it is now left.
The man was in a Tributary Tandem inflatable kayak with
another paddler. They had at least one more tandem inflatable kayak with them
and a total of 5 people in the group, including a young adult and 3 young teen
or pre-teen kids. The man's ik was wrapped around the barricade and he was
pinned on his side at about waist or chest level. I arrived about 20 minutes
after the Morgan County Swiftwater Rescue Team was called out (and then they
cancelled the call to us because Summit County and DNR had enough responders
there.)
His head was above water but his face was away from me so I
couldn't see if he was conscious at that time. I do not know if his head was
above water the entire time before I got there. The lower half of his body was
probably pushed up under the barricade with the current. It is a big enough
cavity under that concrete shelf that a whole body could easily be completely
submerged and pinned under there without being visible from the surface.
The rescuers struggled hard for about 15-20 minutes after I
got there to unpin him. So I estimate that he was in the 45 degree water for at
least 30-40 minutes. Even at low flow when they fly fisherman is wading out
right above the dam, the force of that little spill over made it almost
impossible to get him unpinned, even with the help of 7 rescuers who were in
the water in close contact with him, and several more rescuers at the bank with
ropes, etc.
When they finally got him unpinned and to the bank, they
said he didn't have a pulse and immediately started CPR. CPR continued for 20 minutes
before they turned off the chopper engine. I left at that point.
Last June at about 1100 CFS, I unsuspectingly flipped my
inflatable kayak there just after the concrete barricade had moved out of the
dam. Fortunately for me, the water was high enough that I made it over the top
of the barricade. I spun a few times in the hydraulic below the barricade. Hit
my helmeted head on the concrete and then flushed out. Later last summer after
the water dropped to normal irrigation flow, I saw another group with their
inflatable kayak wrapped around the barricade with ropes strung back and forth
across the channel trying to get it unwrapped.
As a side note, there is no legal public access up stream
from the Henefer Public put-in at exit 112. Angler access sites are not legal
boating access sites, unless you are angling while you are boating. We lease
access at another private property site at Echo and commonly raft/kayak the
Echo to Henefer run where there are 3 dangerous diversion structures. Although
we have not started floating up there yet as we are working with ranchers on
waiting to remove fences until the water comes up high enough to be the fence
to keep their cows in. If you are interested in legally accessing the
Echo-Henefer run, I can arrange it for a group of you for an access fee that
would go to the property owner."
https://www.ksl.com/article/46758356/69-year-old-man-killed-after-overturning-raft-on-weber-river
Carter Williams, KSL.com
69-year-old man killed after overturning raft on Weber
River
By Lauren Bennett, KSL.com
Posted - May 28, 2020
HENEFER, Summit County — A 69-year-old man died on Thursday
after his raft overturned on the Weber River and he became wedged between two
rocks, Summit County Sheriff’s Lt. Andrew Wright confirmed. There were two
rafts carrying the man’s son and two grandchildren, Wright said. One raft
overturned at about 1 p.m. and everyone except for the grandfather was able to
exit the water safely.
Summit County search and rescue teams responded to the
incident, and several sheriff’s deputies jumped in the water to free the man.
The man, who was underwater for a while, was rescued and transported via
medical helicopter to a hospital in critical condition. The man, who is from
the Salt Lake Valley but has not been identified, later died of his injuries.
Because of rapidly moving water with cold temperatures,
Wright advised people to consider waiting to raft until the end of the water
runoff season.
Contributing: Emerson Oligschlaeger, KSL TV
