MODESTO, Calif. — The natural peace and relaxation is why Lacrishia Turpitt chose to spend her week with her sister and kids at the Modesto Reservoir.
"We just like it here, the water is good enough to get in," said Turpitt. "It's a little bit cold but you get used to it."
The calm can quickly change to chaos and for many families it already has. So far this summer, Stanislaus County has reported six drownings compared to eight drownings reported in all of 2023.
"(At the) Modesto Reservoir, we had our first drowning on June 29. Our second drowning was July 1 and then our third drowning was July 6," said Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Veronica Esquivez. "All of these drownings could've been prevented with a life jacket."
Marianne Fisher, 7, knows to put on her life jacket before doing circles in the water, after all it's required by her mom, Melissa.
"The life jackets are lined up before the water so they know life jackets then water," said Melissa. "(It's) not just for their safety, but for ours as well because like we tell them, we get tired out there. We get tired and we can't keep up and if we don't have a life jacket on, we don't have anything to rely on and float.”
Not everyone has their own life jacket, but officials at the reservoir don’t want that to be an excuse when it comes to staying safe. It's why they have a life jacket loaner program offering free life jackets to people all day at the marina on weekends, and upon request at the front entrance on weekdays.
“We also ask people to keep in mind how much alcohol you consume if you’re going to go into the reservoir. Try to swim with somebody else, you know, have a couple of people," said Esquivez, adding each reservoir in the county is staffed with sheriff's deputies. "If you are seeing somebody that could possibly be drowning, maybe it looks like they have issues staying above the surface, call 911 immediately."
With their life jackets on and their group ready, the Fisher and Turpitt families jumped into the water Wednesday afternoon knowing they were doing it the safe way.
"We get to relax," said Melissa. "Life jackets are a have-to-have."
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