Some Russian River beaches closed Memorial Day weekend due to dangerous water levels

Businesses reliant on visitors to the lower Russian River have been scrambling to recover from February’s flood in time to welcome high-season crowds, but the waterway that is the lifeblood and, occasionally, bane of the region, is throwing up more obstacles.

Strong spring rains have raised river currents to what many deem dangerous levels, prompting park officials and some business owners to discourage swimming and water play over Memorial Day weekend - traditionally the opening foray of the busy summer season.

Monte Rio and Johnson’s beaches both will be closed, as will Burke’s Canoe Trips in Forestville. Sonoma County Regional Parks will keep its river beaches open but is discouraging visitors from getting in the water or boating, officials said.

“The river’s too high,” said Dan Poirier, co-owner of Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville, where the campground and six of its 10 cabins are fully operational and booked for the weekend, though the beach will remain closed. “The water’s too fast, and it’s not safe.”

It’s a short-term gesture made in the interest of keeping people out of harm’s way at the cost of some holiday customs and forgone revenue for vendors who have made the choice to hold off a week or so before jumping into summer.

“You gotta respect the water,” said John Menth, a county parks lifeguard who also rents stand-up paddle boards through his company, Russian River Paddle Boards. He won’t be renting any this weekend on account of river conditions.

The weather and the river also are going to be cooler than is often the case this time of year, so the water may prove less than inviting anyway.

Business owners say the region still has plenty of activities to offer its visitors - including redwoods, ocean views, wine tasting and hiking. A wide area of the river near its mouth in Jenner also offers safer paddling for kayakers and canoers.

Merchants remain hopeful of support from out-of-towners through summer and fall as newly restored resorts reopen and regain their footing after devastating winter floods.

Several establishments already have rebounded, and more are scheduled to reopen in the next three or four weeks.

“The overall attitude of the town is very positive,” said Jeff Bridges, general manager and part-owner of R3 hotel in downtown Guerneville, where work crews expect to wrap up a complete overhaul of the resort in the next month or so.

The wet weather that has prevailed this year sent the Russian River over its banks twice during the winter, causing minor flooding in mid-February and then, on Feb. 27, raising the river to its highest level since 1995, inundating downtown Guerneville and parts of Monte Rio, Rio Nido and Forestville and the river’s lower reaches.

Damage was most concentrated in Guerneville, where Fife Creek runs through town on its way to meet the river. During flood events, it backs up into several nearby resorts.

Among them is The Woods, where floodwater reached up to 10 feet in four cottages, while also inundating seven cabins and four regular adjoining rooms, as well as the office, laundry room and housekeeping quarters, owner Michael Preaseau said.

In a dilemma faced by several other local proprietors, Preaseau has been wrestling with his bank over disbursal of insurance funds that he has needed to move forward with restoration work. The bank has been demanding to see receipts for work done before releasing funds.

He has managed to make progress, in part through maxing out credit cards.

“It’s been more stressful than the whole flood,” he said. “It hurts the whole economy of the town.”

Still, Preaseau is readying to host visitors by mid-June, so he’ll be in business for a chunk of the season.

“There’s a lot of hotels still open, and then there’s the businesses that are back open, and it’s just a matter of getting the rest of us slowly but surely back on line for the rest of summer,” Preaseau said.

Karen O’Brien, owner of Rio Villa Beach Resort in Monte Rio, found herself in a similar situation. Her establishment, located on the banks of the river, took on a large amount of water, but she had access to private funds that made her recovery possible, despite what she said was micromanaging from the bank. She plans to reopen June 5.

“All these businesses have been slowed down tremendously, and then we’re missing our very short season,” O’Brien said.

Havinwg the flood come 18 months after devastating the 2017 wildfires makes for an exceptionally trying time, business people said.

“We will recover,” said Highland Dell Lodge owner and general manager Herb Loose. The Monte Rio-based inn hosted its first wedding of the season last weekend and has reopened for regular business, with rooms booked this weekend and multiple weddings on the calendar for June and July.

Michael Volpatt, co-owner of Big Bottom Market on Guerneville’s Main Street, said his employees have heard customers say they want to support businesses hurt by the floods.

“We’ve had people say, ‘I’m so excited that I’m here, because we know how important it is that we’re here,’” Volpatt said.

As for the river, Menth, the county lifeguard who was born and raised in Sonoma County, said, “I’ve never seen it like this this time of year.”

Regional park officials said the flow is high enough that the beach patrol team hasn’t even taken its usual preseason dive to scope out the newly gouged holes in the river bottom yet.

They expected it would settle down to allow for that inspection in the next week or two.

Supervising Ranger Scott Bolin said park personnel would be patrolling river beaches, in part to enforce new bans on alcohol consumption at Steelhead and Sunset beaches in Forestville, and promoting the safety message to beach visitors. They don’t plan to loan life jackets, as usual, in an effort to deter people from getting in the water.

“The water temperatures are colder. The flow is much greater, and it’s not going to be safe, especially for weaker swimmers,” Bolin said.

Burke’s Canoes owner Linda Burke said she expected to be ready to get people out on canoes and kayaks in a week.

“It always drops down and relaxes into its banks, and then it’s summertime,” Burke said. “It’s showtime for us.”

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.