Farmington River Watershed Association Adds Safety Page to Website

By John Fitts

While many consider the Farmington River the area’s greatest asset, it can also one of the most dangerous.

Following the sobering deaths of Rachel Greene in New Hartford/Canton and Nasir Alam in Farmington this June, area and state officials issued several precautions.

There have certainly been other deaths but the fact that they were less than two weeks apart, combined with several others in the state, such as 15-year-old Amanda Monington of Marlborough, who died after falling at Enders State Forest in Granby on June 1, cast a sobering effect on summer activities. 

Recently, the Farmington Valley Collaborative, consisting of representatives from area towns such as Barkhamsted, Canton, Avon, Burlington, Farmington, Simsbury and East Granby, met with the state Department of Energy and Environmental protection, emergency crews  and non-profits like the Farmington River Watershed Association (FRWA) met to continue the discussion. This week the FRWA implemented its first version of one of the suggestions — a safety page on its web site. 

Officials openly acknowledge it’s an upstream battle to reach everyone, especially those who live out of the area.  

“The concern was try to focus on how we can get out a message for people to be safe on the river,” Canton First Selectman Richard Barlow told fellow selectmen at a recent meeting. 

“You can’t reach everybody but let’s try to reach more people through more avenues,” said FRWA executive director Eileen Fielding.

A lot of good information already exists and initially the safety page is modest and links to a lot of those resources, said Aimee Petras, education and outreach coordinator for the FRWA.

Eventually, the organization hopes to add to the page and would like to offer easy-to-read information in a flow chart to help people make more informed decisions. 

"I don’t know how successful it will be but it’s definitely worth trying," Petras said. 

She said it should also be a resource for more cautious users and those seeking recreation options. 

“We’re going to try and fill that hole and hope people find the information useful,” she said.

The collaborative also discussed many other ideas such as education and rescue efforts.

The logistics of a rescue can be difficult and leads to questions as to when a rescue effort officially becomes a recovery effort in order to minimize risk for rescuers.

Education efforts can include media campaigns, possibly printed materials, as well as resources like the town’s own notification systems and social media, Barlow said.

Another idea has been a coded warning system on the riverbanks. However, officials said those involved were somewhat leery of such a system because levels could be difficult to define, manage and even send the wrong message since dangers exist every day. 

One issue can be the sheer power of the water, even if it looks smooth and inviting, according to Fielding.

“People can really underestimate what’s going on when the surface is smooth,” Fielding said. “It can push you underwater and hold you there. That’s not something people experience until they go too far.”

Another issue is the hidden rocks, branches, slippery vegetation and more.  

“People get snagged on things they’re not expecting to be there,” Petras said.

See the safety tips at http://frwa.org/river-info/river-safety/ The FRWA plans to periodically update and expand the page.