EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. — A weekend boating trip at Union Valley Reservoir ended in tragedy Sunday when one person died and another suffered a head injury, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.
The accident occurred at approximately 2:30 p.m. Sunday, when a boat carrying three adults was involved in what authorities described as a solo boating accident. The third person aboard was not injured, officials said.
The person who died has not yet been publicly identified.
The Sheriff’s Office has not released additional details about what led to the accident, including the circumstances surrounding the boat’s operation or what caused it to become involved in the incident.
“The cause of the accident remains under investigation by the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office,” authorities said.
Union Valley Reservoir and boating safety
The incident occurred at Union Valley Reservoir, the largest of the major lakes in the Crystal Basin and a popular destination for boating, fishing, swimming and camping in the Sierra Nevada portion of El Dorado County.
The reservoir has historically been patrolled by the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office. A Sacramento Municipal Utility District boating-management plan prepared for the reservoir notes that the Sheriff’s Office has jurisdiction for enforcing boating laws and maintaining a boat patrol presence on the lake.
The reservoir’s boating environment also includes potential navigational hazards. The SMUD management plan documented submerged and exposed rocks, islands and sandbars that can become more significant as reservoir levels change. The plan specifically identified areas near Wolf Creek Campground where submerged features could pose a hazard to boaters at certain water levels.
Those historical observations, however, do not establish a cause for Sunday’s fatal accident. Authorities have not said whether water conditions, equipment, operator actions, another factor or a combination of circumstances contributed to the incident.
Investigation continues
For now, the Sheriff’s Office has released only limited information as investigators work to determine what happened.
The death marks a serious boating incident at one of El Dorado County’s popular recreational reservoirs. The Sheriff’s Office has not released the identity of the deceased pending notification of relatives.
Additional information is expected as the investigation develops.
This is a developing story.
