Despite many public warnings ahead of the summer, Oregon still saw multiple accidental drownings this year.
Seventeen people have died in boating-related accidents in 2024 so far, according to the Oregon State Marine Board, a slight increase from 2023’s total of 14. Those figures don’t include people who died in the water outside of a vessel.
Visitors enter the new dock at Cathedral Park in Portland on June 29, 2024. The Willamette Riverkeepers is looking to improve water safety by offering new courses next year.
Joni Land / OPB
One of the highest profile drownings came in July when famed chef Naomi Pomeroy got caught in a snag on the Willamette River near Corvallis. The Willamette saw four total boating-related deaths this year.
“I think sometimes people take the Willamette for granted,” said Bob Sallinger, executive director of the Willamette Riverkeepers. “They see it as kind of a lazy, slow moving, safe river. In fact, many parts are fast moving and have real hazards.”
Those hazards include strainers — large objects like branches that can trap people in the water, and eventually pull them under. The Marine Board estimates between 85-90% of drowning victims were not wearing a life jacket.
In response, nonprofits working with rivers in Oregon are trying to educate the public to hopefully prevent further deaths during next summer, and make life jackets more accessible to the public.
For the Tualatin Riverkeepers, one solution is simply making life jackets easier to access and use. The Tualatin River had its own tragedy when a 42-year-old man drowned in July.
Mark Fitzsimons, a guide for the Tualatin Riverkeepers, said in his personal time, he sees many people not wearing life jackets, wearing them incorrectly or without legally required whistles.
“That’s what motivates me to get involved in how to do it safely,” Fitzsimons said.
His organization is currently working to set up life jacket stations at each point of access along the Tualatin River. Paddlers and swimmers alike would be able to take a life jacket off a rack and return it when they’re finished.
The Tualatin only has one such station right now, Fitzsimons said, but the need is far greater.
“As an organization that advocates for access to nature, that troubles us,” he said.
A grant from the Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation will fund between four to five of these kiosks. Fitzsimons said the organization will likely fundraise and seek donations to set up the rest.
But fatalities only tell part of the story of river safety. Sallinger said there are many near-drownings and other incidents in the river that are never tallied, but which all paint a picture of hazardous conditions in Oregon’s rivers.
That means educating the public about river safety and how to navigate rough waters, in addition to wearing the proper gear. The Marine Board recently awarded a grant to the Willamette Riverkeepers to offer a basic paddling safety course starting in the spring of 2025.
“We’re trying to hit it across multiple strategies to improve safety on the river,” Sallinger said.