Drowning on Colorado River in East Austin

[crash_davis 23113]

I know there are Surlers who kayak down the Colorado. Dude wasn't wearing his PFD going over that dam structure. Big mistake.

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/colorado-river-drowning/269-9fe9b98e-13db-4245-9ca1-3c78dd5ccee0

Location where the dude was caught up in the hydraulics.

[Bevo 13578]

When I was a kid, I was jumping through waterfalls and got caught in the middle of one. It was very hard to get out of the turbulence and with all the spinning it was a little hard to get re-oriented. Bottom line - It sucked. I can see why surfers have issues sometimes.

[davidg 4038]

That sucks.  I never have paid too much attention to the issue of low water dams but for some reason I clicked on this video yesterday and it really demonstrates the problems.   The second video is a special boat designed to help rescues at low water dams

 

[BillyGoatHill 4312]

That sucks. Gotta wear your PFD.

We used to do swiftwater training at that exact dam. 

[BillyGoatHill 4312]

2 minutes ago, BillyGoatHill said:

 

dp

Edited May 17, 2021 by BillyGoatHill

[RollLeft 5045]

Thats a damn shame. 

[Deej 76819]

Never overestimate your ability when it comes to the water. You will pay for it, eventually. 

[Armybrat 40850]

That sucks, having fun that turns into tragedy.

I recall a few years ago some dude went over the spillway of Tom Miller Dam in his little boat during a higher than normal water event. He managed to pull himself out of the water by the UT married student housing and knocked on someone’s door for help.

 

[ztejas 43467]

Please use the politically correct "Lady Bird Lake" when referring to that stretch of said river. 

Thanks.

(Ah... it was actually further down river than I was thinking... making my horrible joke inaccurate)

Edited May 18, 2021 by ztejas

[CooterBrown 18014]

Please use the politically correct "Lady Bird Lake" when referring to that stretch of said river. 
Thanks.
(Ah... it was actually further down river than I was thinking... making my horrible joke inaccurate)

“Lady Bird” is always incorrect.

It’ll always be Town Lake except to carpetbaggers.

[TwiceHorn 31495]

Is that weir thing an artificial structure or just a limestone shelf in the riverbed?  If man-made, what purpose does it serve?

[tx 3 putt 76988]

1 hour ago, Deej said:

Never overestimate your ability when it comes to the water. You will pay for it, eventually. 

 

mother nature gives zero fucks 

[ztejas 43467]

1 hour ago, Deej said:

Never overestimate your ability when it comes to the water. You will pay for it, eventually. 

What if you're Ugly God?

 

[Biff Tannen 45691]

9 hours ago, davidg said:

That sucks.  I never have paid too much attention to the issue of low water dams but for some reason I clicked on this video yesterday and it really demonstrates the problems.   The second video is a special boat designed to help rescues at low water dams

 

Both very cool videos.  I want one of those inflatable unsinkable boats.  Seems like a rush.

[atomheartbevo 89708]

44 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Both very cool videos.  I want one of those inflatable unsinkable boats.  Seems like a rush.

This.  I want that boat.

[Armybrat 40850]

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

Is that weir thing an artificial structure or just a limestone shelf in the riverbed?  If man-made, what purpose does it serve?

Maybe a catch basin for the tons of Mexican Freetail bat shit from under the Congress Avenue  bridge, and more recently the human waste  & garbage from the Adlerville camps along the hike & bike trail.

[Cajun 11714]

A wide river experiencing bum sewage?

[BigHorn'13 3368]

7 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Is that weir thing an artificial structure or just a limestone shelf in the riverbed?  If man-made, what purpose does it serve?

My impression was that it's man made for the specific purpose of manipulating water flow. Maybe his other video explains it in better detail but my question is why the fuck are they allowed to be used by the public if they're certified death traps? That is, assuming you "jump the boil point" but it's not legal to go frogger from the top of building to building, either, and that's pretty much the same shit happening here. 

Don't make no damn sense if you ask me...

[52-80 19162]

15 hours ago, davidg said:

That sucks.  I never have paid too much attention to the issue of low water dams but for some reason I clicked on this video yesterday and it really demonstrates the problems.   The second video is a special boat designed to help rescues at low water dams

 

 

 

why yes, i totally want to simulate a waterboarding experience on myself

[Nice Guy Eddie 13515]

11 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Is that weir thing an artificial structure or just a limestone shelf in the riverbed?  If man-made, what purpose does it serve?

I don't know the area but that weir most likely creates a certain level of water between it and upstream at Longhorn Dam. Remove the weir and that section is at greater risk of no-water when Town Lake is low.  

Great video about the drowning risks at low level dams. scary stuff.

[SquishMitten 10408]

Both very cool videos.  I want one of those inflatable unsinkable boats.  Seems like a rush.

Looks fun as hell. But having an outboard motor when you’re rolling up on someone submerged in the water seems a bit...dicey

[davidg 4038]

2 minutes ago, SquishMitten said:

Looks fun as hell. But having an outboard motor when you’re rolling up on someone submerged in the water seems a bit...dicey

Outboard probably has a prop guard or it could be a jet.  Also, the one with the outboard was more a tender for the other boats to help position them and pull them out of the backwash.

[UnivTex34 1763]

I've run that section of river plenty of times. The Weir is man made, but I have no idea the purpose. Portage around it on river right is an easy flat portage.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

4 minutes ago, UnivTex34 said:

I've run that section of river plenty of times. The Weir is man made, but I have no idea the purpose. Portage around it on river right is an easy flat portage.

I don't know what it is, but there is a big building a little way back on the left side (looking downstream) so the weir might have been made for something to do with that.

[HornsOverIthaca 2333]

15 hours ago, 52-80 said:

 

 

why yes, i totally want to simulate a waterboarding experience on myself

I’m sure somebody finds it pretty neat.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13515]

Who has responsibility of the weir? River Authority? My guess is that there would be little traction to remove this weir. The removal could ruin kayaking upstream from the weir. However tall the weir is, that is what they upstream depth would be lowered with its removal.

No action can also justified that the kayaker lost his life by his own mistake. It most likely take a certain # of deaths before any govt agency will act. Or a death of the wrong person.