LOS BANOS, California (8 Feb 2007) -- Tim Crawford and Martin Alvarado were performing what was supposed to be a routine, 20-minute inspection when they dove into the California Aqueduct to check on submerged equipment. But something went terribly wrong 30 feet below in the murky, fast-moving waters near the Dos Amigos Pumping Plant, about 85 miles southeast of San Jose, and both divers turned up dead Wednesday. "For reasons we don't know yet, they did not come up," said Sue Sims, spokeswoman for the state Department of Water Resources, which employed the men. It was the first time the department had experienced such a tragedy in its diving corps, she added. Both Crawford, 56, and Alvarado, 44, still had air in their tanks, and neither had deployed any of the safety devices that are designed to bring them to the surface, said Tom Melden, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, which is investigating the incident. Neither diver appeared to have been sucked into the grate by the pumps, he said. "It's a puzzle we're going to have to work out," Melden said. "There was no outward damage to their suits or equipment." The CHP has seized the diving equipment to make sure it was working properly. The divers, tethered together, went into the aqueduct shortly after 10 a.m. and were in the water about 45 minutes before a third diver on the shore lost sight of them, said Paul Barile, a spokesman with the sheriff's department. The third diver had pulled the bodies from the water by the time rescue divers with the sheriff's department arrived. Barile said the victims had been under water about two hours. He described the section of the aqueduct in which the two men died as treacherous. It's about 75-feet wide and filled with muddy, dark water that rushes toward a large underwater grate designed to stop debris from entering the pumping station. The grate extends 25-50 feet below the surface, depending on the time of year and the amount of runoff entering the aqueduct. Barile, a former diver on Merced County's rescue team, said he had encountered logs, wood and even abandoned cars moving through the aqueduct. The water moves 5-10 mph at the surface but can move much faster near the grate. "Anything can happen down there," he said. The aqueduct is part of the State Water Project, a system of 22 dams and reservoirs that funnels drinking water more than 400 miles to residents in Southern California. The Dos Amigos Pumping Station is about 15 miles south of San Luis Reservoir, a familiar landmark along Highway 152 that links Interstate 5 to the Santa Cruz/Monterey area. | | Water makes its way south through the Central Valley by way of the California Aqueduct. The reservoir stores water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that otherwise would flow into the Pacific Ocean. Dos Amigos uses six pumps that push the water south from the reservoir through the aqueduct. A friend of Crawford's wife said the family was notified Wednesday afternoon but given few details. "We have no idea what happened. All we know is he's not alive," said Allyn Bushlow, who answered the phone at Crawford's home in the Seaside area near Monterey. She described Crawford as an easygoing surfer who had been with the Department of Water Resources for nearly 20 years. He is survived by his wife and 27-year-old son Shawn. Alvarado, of the Coalinga area, had been with the department for six years, said spokesman Ted Thomas. Both men worked for the Department of Water Resources in another capacity and were part of a volunteer team of about 12 divers within the agency that inspects equipment along rivers and aqueducts and performs minor repairs and maintenance. Director Lester Snow said the department sent its "deepest sympathies" to the men's families. "Our divers routinely perform hazardous duties in connection with State Water Project operations, but they are well-trained, highly qualified individuals who approach their tasks with a safety-first attitude," he said in a statement. In addition to the CHP, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the state agency that oversees workplace accidents, is investigating the deaths. "We need to find out what occurred," said Dean Fryer, a Cal/OSHA spokesman. "We will have to look at the issues of safety precautions and safety procedures for that type of work." SCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
