County Council Passes Law Requiring Flotation Devices on Rivers

The Metropolitan King County Council adopted legislation Monday  (PFDs) on major King County rivers.

This year, county rivers are potentially deadly due to exceptionally high flows, cold temperatures, and rechannelization from winter floods, said Councilmember Larry Phillips, sponsor of the legislation and chair of the Council’s Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee.

“Requiring personal flotation devices will allow people to enjoy King County rivers while saving lives and life safety resources,” he added.

The goal of the emergency ordinance is to get people to think before they go on a county river, said Council Chair Larry Gossett.

“This is not to punish or keep anyone from having fun, but to have people remember that safety should be your first priority when you go out on the water.”

Summer is the height of the river recreation season, with a number of people out on water in everything from boats to canoes and kayaks to inner tubes.

Local rivers have already claimed at least one victim this spring, a 29-year-old Bothell man whose body was recovered in May from the Snoqualmie River near Fall City. He had tried to rescue his dog from the swirling currents of the swollen river, only to disappear himself.

In July of 2008, a 36-year-old Kirkland man drowned in the Snoqualmie while inner-tubing with friends. None of them wore life jackets or thermal protection.

Heavy mountain snowpack is expected to result in high water levels in rivers this summer, as the snow melts with warmer weather—just as recreationists take to the rivers. 

In addition, flooding this past winter has changed the contours of some King County rivers, creating new undercut banks, and moving and reorienting large wood and sediment. As a result, river users may encounter new conditions on the rivers compared to what they’ve seen in the past.  

Current state law requires all children 12 years of age and under to wear a PFD when they are on a vessel that is less than 19 feet in length. The legislation adopted by the Council would require use of PFDs on major King County rivers by persons who are boating, floating, or swimming in the rivers.

It will apply to anyone floating in any type of buoyant device, like a boat, raft, log raft, air mattress, inner tube, surf board, sail board, canoe or kayak. It will also apply to individuals swimming or wading more than five feet from shore, or in water more than four feet deep, except in designated public beaches or for those who are skin diving. 

Major rivers include the South, Middle and North Fork and mainstem Snoqualmie River, the South Fork of the Skykomish River, the Tolt River, the Raging River, the Sammamish River, the Cedar River, the Green River and the White River.

Outreach about the new ordinance will include posting the requirements at access points to major rivers, and coordination with regional organizations focused on drowning prevention and PFD use. The ordinance is subject to enforcement by the King County Sheriff. The first violation would only be a warning; subsequent violations would include a fine of $86.

The measure will expire on October 1, 2011.  For more information on known hazards in King County rivers, go to: www.kingcounty.gov/recreation/boating/rivers.aspx