NORWALK
By STEVE KOBAK
Hour Staff Writer
Faith Arnold has seen tragedy strike too many times on the stretch of the Norwalk River where Jose Higareda drowned on May 25 and she said something needs to be done to prevent another unnecessary death.
Arnold, who has lived on Mallard Road near Deering Pond -- the site where Higareda drowned, said she wants a more vigilant effort to keep people from fishing and swimming in the dangerous stretch of the river.
"It's always been a treacherous river," she said. "It's always had much of an undertow and a very rapid flow of water."
Higareda died while trying to rescue a 10-year-old boy and Arnold said there was a stretch of five years from the late 1960s to the early 1970s where multiple people drowned or nearly drowned in the section of river.
Linda Swallow, another Mallard Road resident, said she is aware of other minor incidents that have resulted from the strength of the current at Deering Pond.
"Since I've lived here, there's been multiple incidents where people go in for a swim and don't realize how strong the current is," she said.
Swallow once had to rescue a dog that had jumped into the Silvermine River while chasing a stick. She said the current was strong in that portion of the Silvermine River -- which drains into Deering Pond. She said can only imagine the strength of Deering Pond's current.
Aside from the current, the water's depth is an issue, Swallow and Arnold said.
A former gravel mining site that was dredged after the Norwalk River flood in 1955, portions of Deering Pond are as much as 60 feet deep, according to Arnold and Swallow. The river is deceptively shallow under the Broad Street bridge, as it was never dredged, Arnold said.
Diane Lauricella, a former member of the Norwalk River Watershed Association, said it was not uncommon for companies to mine for gravel on sections of the river but she doubts the deepest point of Deering Pond exceeds 20 feet.
However, Lauricella said no official data is available for that portion of the river and she had advocated for a study of that section of the river that would measure its depth.
Arnold and Swallow agree that the pond is too dangerous for fishing, never mind swimming, and they wonder why nothing is being done about preventing fishing and swimming on the stretch of the Norwalk River.
"People don't know how dangerous it is down there and people are fishing there all the time," Swallow said.
The property owner must agree to erect a "no fishing" sign. Northeast Utilities, which owns property in the area, has posted "no trespassing signs." First Taxing District, which owns aquifers in the area, has already taken that step, according to Ken Slapin, First Taxing District chairman.
"We have a great concern for this issue on our reservoirs," Slapin said.
Other property owners have not yet followed suit.
By STEVE KOBAK
Hour Staff Writer
Faith Arnold has seen tragedy strike too many times on the stretch of the Norwalk River where Jose Higareda drowned on May 25 and she said something needs to be done to prevent another unnecessary death.
Arnold, who has lived on Mallard Road near Deering Pond -- the site where Higareda drowned, said she wants a more vigilant effort to keep people from fishing and swimming in the dangerous stretch of the river.
"It's always been a treacherous river," she said. "It's always had much of an undertow and a very rapid flow of water."
Higareda died while trying to rescue a 10-year-old boy and Arnold said there was a stretch of five years from the late 1960s to the early 1970s where multiple people drowned or nearly drowned in the section of river.
Linda Swallow, another Mallard Road resident, said she is aware of other minor incidents that have resulted from the strength of the current at Deering Pond.
"Since I've lived here, there's been multiple incidents where people go in for a swim and don't realize how strong the current is," she said.
Swallow once had to rescue a dog that had jumped into the Silvermine River while chasing a stick. She said the current was strong in that portion of the Silvermine River -- which drains into Deering Pond. She said can only imagine the strength of Deering Pond's current.
Aside from the current, the water's depth is an issue, Swallow and Arnold said.
A former gravel mining site that was dredged after the Norwalk River flood in 1955, portions of Deering Pond are as much as 60 feet deep, according to Arnold and Swallow. The river is deceptively shallow under the Broad Street bridge, as it was never dredged, Arnold said.
Diane Lauricella, a former member of the Norwalk River Watershed Association, said it was not uncommon for companies to mine for gravel on sections of the river but she doubts the deepest point of Deering Pond exceeds 20 feet.
However, Lauricella said no official data is available for that portion of the river and she had advocated for a study of that section of the river that would measure its depth.
Arnold and Swallow agree that the pond is too dangerous for fishing, never mind swimming, and they wonder why nothing is being done about preventing fishing and swimming on the stretch of the Norwalk River.
"People don't know how dangerous it is down there and people are fishing there all the time," Swallow said.
The property owner must agree to erect a "no fishing" sign. Northeast Utilities, which owns property in the area, has posted "no trespassing signs." First Taxing District, which owns aquifers in the area, has already taken that step, according to Ken Slapin, First Taxing District chairman.
"We have a great concern for this issue on our reservoirs," Slapin said.
Other property owners have not yet followed suit.