San Joaquin County likely to lend life jackets on Mokelumne River

Alan MacIsaac, right, and his son, Andrew, wear two different types of floatation devices as they boat down the Mokelumne River in June. (News-Sentinel file photograph)

San Joaquin County likely to lend life jackets on Mokelumne River

By Ross Farrow
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Tuesday, December 1, 2009 6:23 AM PST

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San Joaquin County and other agencies are teaming up to provide life jackets for people to wear while rafting on the Mokelumne River in the eastern end of the county.

County, Clements Fire and East Bay Municipal Utility District officials say they hope to kick off the program next spring.

"It's a grass-roots effort," said Alan MacIsaac, a major participant in the life jacket effort. "There isn't a budget."

The idea to begin a life jacket program originated shortly after a 16-year-old from Valley Springs drowned in April, said Craig Ogata, the county parks and recreation director.

Clements firefighters respond to river rescues anywhere from one to nine times a year, Ingrum said. More rescues and occasional drownings take place in years after heavy rains, producing high water levels in the Mokelumne, Ingrum said.

MacIsaac said that Ingrum put it best: "Most people don't drown in a life vest."

After the April drowning, MacIsaac said he campaigned on his blog, Mokelumneriver.com, to get support for a loaner program. The county got on board, he said, and Wal-Mart donated $100 to purchase seven to nine life jackets.

Once the concept is approved by the Board of Supervisors, rafters will be able to borrow life jackets at three locations: the Clements fire station at Highway 88 and Mackville Road; the Mokelumne River day-use area near Camanche Dam; and Stillman Magee Regional Park on Mackville Road near the river.

The county can't force anyone to use a life jacket unless they are under 13 years old, Ogata said. That's because the Mokelumne and other rivers are state waterways, requiring San Joaquin County to comply with state regulations, Ogata said.

At this morning's meeting, the Board of Supervisors will consider introducing an ordinance requiring children under 13 to wear life jackets on all waterways in the county. Supervisors will vote on Dec. 8 on whether to adopt the ordinance. It would take effect 30 days after passage.

The purpose of the ordinance, Ogata said, is to allow law enforcement to cite people who violate the life jacket requirement.

EBMUD will provide the drop-off area for life jackets at the day-use area near Camanche Dam, which the East Bay utility owns and operates, said EBMUD spokesman Jeff Becerra. There were reports that EBMUD would provide signs at the three sites, but Becerra couldn't confirm it on Monday.

First 5-San Joaquin also donated $750 to Clements Fire to conduct a kickoff ceremony sometime next spring, and Waste Management is involved in the project, Ogata said.

MacIsaac is taking donations of "gently used" life jackets that residents are no longer using. For more information, send an e-mail to if anyone has any life jackets that they're not using, send an e-mail to info@mokelumneriver.com.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

Supervisors may ban smoking at Woodbridge Wilderness area

As part of the same ordinance that would require children under 13 to wear a life jacket on waterways in San Joaquin County, the Board of Supervisors will also consider amending an existing ordinance governing park and recreation activities.

One amendment would be to ban smoking in wilderness areas near residential developments to prevent accidental fires that would threaten homes.

The Woodbridge Wilderness Area, located between the south shore of the Mokelumne River and the Del Rio, River Meadows and Windwood subdivisions, was scorched by fire in September 2008. Several homes were threatened.

But Ogata said Wilderness isn't the only target of the ordinance. Oak Grove Regional Park on western Eight Mile Road has 100 acres backing up to housing developments on two sides of the park.

Today's Board of Supervisors meeting will begin at 9 a.m. at the county administration building, 44 N. San Joaquin St., sixth floor, Stockton.

News-Sentinel staff

Reader Feedback

dogbark wrote on Dec 5, 2009 12:25 PM:

" the paragraph on requiring those under 13 to wear life jackets is confusing. If the State law already requires this, why does the county have to vote the same measure through? "

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dogs4you wrote on Dec 1, 2009 7:08 PM:

" After taking a second look at this pic, according to the US Coast Guard, anytime a boat is underway, everyone in the boat will be in a proper seat. The young man is not and therefore breaking the law. "

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