Spokane Waters Still Run Deep, Officials Warn With Dam Gates Open, River Remains Deceptively Fast

School’s out. So is the sun. But it’s still not safe to swim in the swift Spokane River.

“What we are cautioning people about is that the Spokane River is still fairly dangerous,” said Kevin Mumford, a deputy with Kootenai County’s recreational enforcement division.

“I think a lot of people have forgotten that even though the river isn’t flooding, the dam gates are still open. The river doesn’t look that fast, but they get out into that current and it really takes them.”

In the past week, the sheriff’s marine division has performed three river rescues and responded to numerous calls related to the river’s swift current. An Idaho Falls man was rescued from the log booms just above the Post Falls dam after ignoring “no swimming” signs.

Two Post Falls residents and a Coeur d’Alene man were stranded for 30 minutes in the cold water after their ski rope became tangled in logs and the river current sucked their jet-propelled ski underwater.

The craft eventually broke from the rope and surfaced the next day near the Idaho Forest Industries mill.

Monday, two teenage Coeur d’Alene girls had to be rescued from log booms after becoming stranded by the current.

“All the lake beaches are safe to swim on and you don’t have the problem of the swiftness of the current,” Mumford said. “People may be strong swimmers but colder water along with a current is really going to zap the strength out of person. Pick a safe spot to swim and think about it before you get in the water.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Keep children safe Authorities are cautioning parents to keep children away from the river until the flood gates at the Post Falls Dam are closed in early July.