Aug 30: Diving the Saint Joseph River – Niles, MI
The specific reason for today’s dive in the St. Joseph river was to determine if there were enough items/ trash to support the need for a 2019 Ecology Dive.
We explored the right side for the river as it flows downstream from the upper Bond street park and boat launch down to and under the Grant and West Main street bridges all the way down to the kayak launch behind the Wonderland theater.
Today the visibility averaged 3 feet in most areas of the river. There were a number of fallen trees and debris in many places near shore and out to deeper water that were definite snag, impalement, and entanglement hazards.
The current in many areas was manageable, especially if using a river stick, BUT in several areas approaching the bridges and bends in the river the current was very fast, and you had little control of your movement or path.
We have determined that the river conditions are hazardous for the inexperienced river diver and there is no way we can mitigate these risks and feel comfortable with inviting divers to dive this section of river at this time.
Based on these safety issues the Michigan U/W Divers club is NOT going to have the planned September 2019 Ecology Dive in Niles this year.
With that said, If you need a cell phone just dive the St. Joseph River in Niles. Recovered 4 in today’s drift dive. Almost 5 except the fisherman on the docks went in the water to get his after he dropped it.
