2 Fishermen Drown in State Aqueduct in Gorman Area

Two men who were fishing in a restricted California Aqueduct canal near Gorman drowned when one slid down a slick concrete bank and the other fell into the turbulent water while apparently trying to save him, authorities said this morning.

The drownings forced the state Department of Water Resources to close off the water flow in the aqueduct and shut down a power plant at Pyramid Lake for about 12 hours while divers searched the murky water for the bodies.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said the two men, who have not yet been identified, fell into the 20-to-30-foot-deep concrete Quail Canal about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. Their bodies were recovered by eight Sheriff’s Department divers this morning.

The victims and a third man were fishing off the banks of the 150-foot-wide, V-shaped canal about a mile east of the Golden State Freeway. The third man told deputies that he had momentarily walked up the bank when he heard a splash and a call for help.

The witness told deputies that as he went back to the canal he saw the second man, who had gone to the water’s edge, slip on slick algae and fall into the turbulent water. Both men almost immediately went under water and disappeared.

County firefighters, paramedics, deputies and California Highway Patrol officers arrived after the witness flagged down a car for help. A CHP officer and a paramedic slid into the water while walking along the canal looking for the two missing men. They were both rescued uninjured by firefighters who formed a human chain on the concrete bank and pulled them to safety.

Authorities said the canal is dangerous because four large culverts carry water from Quail Lake under California 138 and into the canal. The force of the water entering the canal creates turbulence and a whirlpool effect that could drag someone under the water, said Bruce Jackson, a Department of Water Resources supervisor.