Water and Canal Safety
CCID is committed to water and canal safety. We believe in working together with the community to educate our children about the dangers of canals and open waterways. CCID works with 24 local elementary schools from Mendota to Crows Landing. Nearly 6,000 students participate in our annual Water Awareness Coloring Contest. Students’ kindergarten through third grade use their imaginations to color a page adapted from the District’s “Muskrat Wally and Friends” Canal Safety coloring book. Students also watch a presentation from CCID staff about the dangers of canals and open waterways and learn about water edge rescue.
CANAL SAFETY
Canals contain water that is quickly moving. Fast-moving water in a narrow channel can knock a person off their feet. Even water that is only a foot deep, if it is moving fast enough, would cause you to lose your balance and be carried away.
We do not allow any swimming, fishing, playing, or other recreational activities in or around our canals.
Debris (trash and garbage) and other dangerous things can be found in canals.
Dry canals are not safe because there is no way to know when water may be released and you may be trapped by a surge of water.
Canals can have deep water. If you cannot swim or if you are hurt, falling into deep water could prove fatal. In addition to swift currents, irrigation canals may have undertows and turbulence that could drag even a strong swimmer under water.
Canals have steep slopes and slippery walls. The concrete or earthen sides of ditches and canals are sometimes steep and possibly slippery, making them difficult to climb out.
Canals have grates, culverts, spillways and in-water energy dissipation devices. If a person were to fall into a water-filled ditch or canal, hazards can cause you to be caught up in or strike an object or structure. This may cause someone to become submerged and/or lose consciousness. There are pipelines and gates in the canals and ditches where water is being diverted. These structures can cause a suction effect trapping a person underwater.
