Stay Out of the Washes, Channels, and Rivers

From the Los Angeles Times
2 Girls Rescued in Pacoima Wash
From a Times Staff Writer
April 9, 2006

Pacoima Wash sounds like a coin-op laundry. It's not. It is part of the flood control & water conservation system in the Los Angeles area. Thanks to recent storms, there are high flows of water in the system.

Quote:
>>Firefighters rescued two girls who fell into a flood-control channel Saturday in Sylmar and were carried more than two miles by a 20 mph current.

The girls, who are cousins ages 16 and 11, were playing near the Pacoima Wash when they fell into the channel and were swept away, said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.
[snip]
Had they not been rescued at that point, the girls would have entered a more dangerous part of the channel and probably drowned, he added.<<

The water is cold, turbulent, and often full of nasty stuff. It's very easy to die when swept away in part of the flood control system. The swiftwater rescue crews are awesome, but there's only so much they can do.