Mesa County, Colo. -- The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office wants to alert any boaters planning on heading down the Colorado River this Memorial Day weekend of some dangerous water hazards that have increased in size over the winter.
Multiple large cottonwood trees have fallen into the river causing rafts and tubes to easily become entangled in the mighty debris field.
There is an alternative route to avoid this danger.
The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office has posted warning signs at
all the major boat launches and additional warnings down river designed to be
visible to boaters as they near the fork in the river.
We strongly advise
utilizing the right channel to avoid this danger.
An easy landmark to help
identify this section of river is I-70. The right channel (the recommended
path) of the river flows directly alongside the interstate and is clearly
visible as boaters approach the area.
The exact location on the Colorado River is, 39 07.054, -108 41.219, and it's almost due south of 20 1/2 Road.
Those floating and recreating on the Colorado River downstream from the Blue Heron boat ramp should stay river right where the channel splits.
The hazard is a series of three obstructions including a string of multiple cottonwood trees in the main current of the river.
As water levels start to go down over the summer, the strainers will almost completely block the channel making the obstacles virtually unavoidable which very dangerous to boaters and swimmers.
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