Kings River re-opening in Tulare County

TULARE COUNTY (KFSN) -- Hundreds of sandbags remain piled up along the Kings River at Riverland in Kingsburg. The resort is expecting a busy weekend after the Tulare County Sheriff's Office announced it would be opening the Kings River within Tulare County this Friday.

"We're very happy to announce that the flows on the Kings River have reached a point that we can have safe recreation on the river-- which includes boating," said Lt. Rob Schimpf, Tulare County Sheriff.

With the Kings River set to open places like Riverland Resort can look to recoup some of the revenue lost during mandatory evacuation orders and damage earlier this year because of dangerous flooding.

"On the heels of the flooding we encountered we have an awful lot of businesses that function along that river and rely on that recreation and we're very happy that they're going to get back into business," said Schimpf.

Conditions on the Kings River continue to be monitored by the Tulare County Sheriff's Office through ongoing communication with the Kings River Water Association.

"Ever since the flooding we've been keeping a close eye on it-- we know what those numbers are, we know when we reach a certain level we can get back to business as usual," said Schimpf.

But boaters this weekend might notice several sand bars have shifted into new places, causing significant changes to the channel because of high flows.

"Sheriff Boudreaux's Safety Enforcement Unit will be out there on a daily basis. We have our deputies on the boats and they're going to be out there holding people accountable," said Schimpf.

The Kings River will open Friday in Tulare County not in Fresno County.