Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux announced Thursday the Kings River in Tulare County is closed to all recreational use, including swimming and boating, due to dangerous conditions.
The river is flowing at 5,200 cubic feet per second currently because the Army Corps of Engineers is releasing water from Pine Flat Dam.
“I am very concerned about the safety of the people of this county,” Boudreaux said in a statement. “The water conditions are unsafe and unpredictable and simply not suitable for recreation right now. If shutting down access to a public waterway saves just one life, it is worth any slight inconvenience that it might cause.”
The sheriff’s office said that while the water might look calm, it is not and can be very dangerous to enter.
Closure signs are being posted and the sheriff’s office will provide enforcement.
