Tulare County closes Kings River after Pine Flat Dam water release

The lower Kings River in Tulare County was closed Thursday due to rushing water being released from Pine Flat Dam.

All public access, including swimming and boating, is shut down until further notice, The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office announced.

The Army Corps of Engineers is releasing water from Pine Flat Dam, making the flow 5,200-cubic-feet per second, the sheriff’s office said. The water will travel through the Kings River in Fresno and Tulare counties.

“The water conditions are unsafe and unpredictable and simply not suitable for recreation right now,” Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said in a news release. “If shutting down access to a public waterway saves just one life, it is worth any slight inconvenience that it might cause.”

The sheriff’s office will provide enforcement and closure signs are posted at the river.

The lower Kings River in Kings County was shut May 16 after officials declared a state of local emergency due to the high flows.

The Kings River in Fresno County remains open.

The sheriff’s office is monitoring water levels, but channels in Fresno County are typically deeper and wider than in Tulare and Kings counties, allowing water to flow through, according to Fresno County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Botti.

If the water flow reaches 10,000-cubic-feet per second, the sheriff’s office will redetermine if the river needs to be closed, Botti said.

The Tule River in Tulare County and the Sequoia National Forest was closed May 20 due to unsafe conditions.

This story was originally published May 30, 2019 at 3:40 PM.