DWR divers didn't have safest standard equipment available
SAMANTHA YOUNG
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO - The two state divers who died in the strong currents of the California Aqueduct relied upon recreational equipment that is considered unsafe for the conditions they faced, top industry and diving experts said Thursday.
The mysterious deaths of Tim Crawford, 50, and Martin Alvarado, 44, on Wednesday shed light on a program at the state Department of Water Resources in which divers used scuba diving gear that experts said would have not have been used by trained professionals in the private sector.
Crawford and Alvarado descended about 30 feet to inspect trash racks on the floor of the California Aqueduct, where big grates catch tumbleweeds, garbage and animal carcasses.
"They were using scuba which is a No. 1 huge 'no' for clearing trash tracts," said Dan Vasey, director of the Marine Technical Department at Santa Barbara City College. "That goes against all the standards we train to."
In hazardous circumstances, industry officials said diving standards require a safer method known as surface supply diving. That practice involves using sturdy helmets, rope and oxygen lines that anchor the divers to the shore and a monitoring station that gauges their whereabouts and physical conditions.
Wednesday's dive was a routine assignment for experienced divers who were part of a team of 13 divers that several times a month navigate the state's rivers and aqueducts to do maintenance and repair work that keeps water flowing to Southern California.
As is department practice, the men were tethered together and wore wet suits, masks, and air tanks on their backs. The current in that part of the 444-mile-long aqueduct at the Dos Amigos Pumping Plant is fast, the visibility is low and there are many obstacles that can trap a diver.
The scuba gear was not sufficient, said Alan Jackson, a former dive team leader with 20 years of experience at the Imperial Irrigation District.
"They screwed up, whoever was running the show," Jackson said.
The Department of Water Resources declined repeated requests from The Associated Press on Thursday to talk with managers or members of the diving team about their choice of equipment and safety procedures.
"They don't have any specific information about what happened yesterday," spokeswoman Sue Sims said. "We've got people in the middle of an investigation at the moment."
At Dos Amigos, the channel is wider than a two-lane highway and snakes through fog-laden farmland on the outskirts of Los Banos. The 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.
On Wednesday, one of the six pumps at the plant was active about 50 feet from where the pair were working, but was normal and non-threatening, according to David Roose, an engineer with the State Water Project. Nevertheless, the water was still moving and cloudy.
"Given the current, the amount of debris and the lack of visibility, that's probably an unsafe mode of diving," said Phil Newsum, executive director of the Houston-based Association of Diving Contractors International. "This was probably a very unnecessary loss."
James Ainslie, a former member of the dive team and a friend of both men, said the department gave him and other dive team members whatever equipment they needed, although they didn't have the industry-preferred equipment.
"We knew there was a risk involved. We always trusted each other and we took care of everything we had," said Ainslie, who was on the team for eight years but left last year. "I think it was just a tragic accident. I'm 100 percent sure they did the best they could for each other."
In a 2001 story published in an internal department magazine, DWR People, Crawford acknowledged the dangers of his 20-year career of diving for the department. He described a time he and a fellow diver almost didn't make it out of the water while doing a field survey at a pumping plant.
"We hit concrete which meant the canal section had been cleared of silt, but when we moved in another direction we ran into a 10-foot wall of silt," Crawford said. "It could have easily collapsed and buried us."
Little was known Thursday about why the pair failed to come back to the surface after what was supposed to be a 20-minute task.
At the shore, investigators reported that neither diver's wet suit or tank showed signs of damage, meaning it was unlikely they struggled or became trapped. And both men had air left in their tanks, said Tom Melden, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.
Those early signs point to an equipment failure, contaminated water or air, experts said.
The Merced County coroner's office was expected to perform an autopsy late Thursday or Friday, spokesman Paul Barile 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. It feeds into municipal water systems and irrigation canals, and is also used to flood a nearby wildlife refuge, where thousands of migratory waterfowl gather each winter, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the state Department of Water Resources.
