Pueblo officials restrict activity on Arkansas River

PUEBLO, Colo. (KKTV) – Officials from both the City of Pueblo and Pueblo County placed restrictions for anyone taking part in any activity on the Arkansas River on Tuesday. There is no timeline yet for how long this restriction will last.

This restriction is in place even if you have a life vest on. Officials from the Pueblo Fire Department say because of the snow melt and considerable amount of rain, the height of the water and how fast it is flowing is extremely dangerous.

They say if the river is flowing at over 5,000 ft³ per second it can be dangerous even for their rescuers. As of Tuesday morning, the Arkansas River was flowing at 5,360 ft³ per second. These officials put this number in perspective saying that’s like 5,360 basketballs hitting you every second.

Pueblo City Fire Chief Barb Huber says if people were to participate in activities in the water, it could end badly very quickly.

“Unfortunately, they’re going to be caught off guard with how quickly they can be taken away.

“Where they normally figure they can take out or find a safe haven that’s not going to be available to them… Your takeout points, your safety points are not going to be in the places you would expect them to be.”

She also says when the water conditions are this powerful the river can overpower even experienced swimmers.

Chief Huber also describes what the rescue process is like for the fire department in these cases.

“It would be equal to the number of people needed at least on initial fire alarm.

“It takes a significant amount of rescuers because we have to have upstream people downstream people. We’ve got to get people on both sides of the river, so it’s a significant undertaking. We have to slow that rescue down and make sure that all things are in place before we put a single swimmer in the water.”

Although any activities on the Arkansas River are completely prohibited right now, Huber provides tips for safely recreating on the water when people are able to do so again.

“First of all, never go alone and if you do, then you let someone know where you’re going and what your plan is.

“You should always have a life jacket in or around the water. You should know where you’re going to be and size up the area and the conditions, know what the weather is going to be like for the entire time you’re going to be out because it can change significantly and especially out on the reservoir pretty quickly.”

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