SWEETWATER COUNTY — Boaters on Flaming Gorge should be particularly alert for floating hazards this week and over the 4th of July weekend, according to Sweetwater County Sheriff Rich Haskell.

Haskell said deputies patrolling the lake on the Sheriff’s Office boaton Saturday discovered and towed in what is believed to be an old bridge or dock piling about 20 feet long and two feet thick.

“The boat patrol spotted the piling floating in mid-channel about two miles north of Buckboard,” Haskell said. “The Green River has been running high and there was some rough weather upstream recently. It looks like the high water dislodged it and it drifted to where it was found.”

Authorities are concerned that other floating debris may have found its way into the lake, as well.  “If a boat strikes a piece of debris that size, especially at a high rate of speed, the results are going to be disastrous,” Haskell said.

The Sheriff’s Office recommends that boaters, especially water skiers, keep a sharp eye for floating debris on Flaming Gorge, especially in the northern reaches of the lake.

-From a press release