LVN opinion: Canals are not for swimming

Don’t let the hot desert weather of the past 10 days fool you for a dip in one of the area’s irrigation canals.

The dirty and dangerous canals that crisscross the Lahontan Valley are not a viable alternative for people of any age to jump in and beat Nevada’s typically high summer temperatures that quickly zoom into the low 100s.

With daytime temperatures rising past the century mark in July, the first inclination is to cool off. Swimming pools are fine. Sprinklers are fine. A good cold shower also has two-fold uses.

But what’s not fine is taking the plunge in one of the valley’s many canal.

The past two years have provided a swift flow of water to travel through the canal system, and this year situation is different. The canals will still be treacherous and a handful of deaths have occurred during the past two decades when individuals — for one reason or another — fell victim to the canals’ unforgiving grasp.

At least three deaths in recent memory have occurred in the area’s canals, the last one happening a few years ago.

Although local ordinances do not prohibit swimming in the canals, federal law does. The canal system in both the Fernley and Fallon areas are part of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Newlands Project, and trespassing inside the easement where the canals wind through the Lahontan Valley is illegal. Also, the pulling of boards and changing of gate settings is prohibited.

Every year officials are busy shooing people out of the cool canal water. Although incidents occur system wide, Truckee Canal Irrigation District officials report the majority of people still enjoy using the V-Line canal from Casey to Bottom roads and east toward the Lovelock Highway.

Canal, though, also carry high levels of bacteria, and many times TCID or another agency must remove the carcass of an animal that slipped into the canal and drowned. If that’s not bad enough, cultivated lands carry herbicides and pesticides into the canal’s water.

Furthermore, dog owners are foolish and doing their four-legged companions a disservice by removing them from their leashes and allowing the pooches to swim in the canal. Dogs have also drowned in the various canals or become sick because of the bacteria or toxic chemicals.

As with any body of water, such as rivers and canals, many things below the surface that swimmers cannot see that may injure or lead to death. Canal banks are slippery, the rocks are rough and the undertow in the drops may cause drowning.

As we have mentioned before, the Lahontan Valley canals serve as a lifeline for farmers and ranchers, not as a recreational playground for people wanting to cool off.

As a county, we’ve been very lucky that more people haven’t drowned in one of ours canals; however, with each person’s death in the canals, each situation has been avoidable. TCID or the local Churchill County Sheriff’s deputies aren’t trying to be mean and limit cooling off during these sizzling days of summer. They are protecting the swimmers.

As with any tidbits of recommendation, we re-emphasize the following:

• Canals not a place for cooling off. They are dirty and dangerous and the wrong move could cause serious injury or even death.

• Run through the sprinkler with your dog (unless you have a goat).

• Spend a day at the city pool or the county’s indoor pool on Sheckler Road.

• Take a cold shower, with or without a friend.

Remember, the canals aren’t clean nor are they safe nor recommended for a swim.

This editorial is the viewpoint of the Lahontan Valley News.