After years of close calls, the Willamalane Park and Recreation District posted signs about the “high risk of drowning” at an underwater dam in the Willamette River between Eugene and Springfield, where strong currents have trapped people floating or paddling downstream.
Last summer, Eugene Springfield Fire responded to rescue calls at the dam, including two sisters Lookout Eugene-Springfield spoke with last summer.
The sisters researched the route before putting in at a boat ramp nearly a quarter-mile upstream of the low-head dam, which creates a powerful hydraulic loop. The only thing that could have prepared them for the danger was a clear warning sign, they said…