Drowning draws attention to danger of low-water dams

FORT WORTH -- Richard Walker and his family were preparing to adopt two children when a drowning accident took the 47-year-old man's life.
Walker and his wife had taken the two foster children, ages 7 and 8, to the Trinity River park Monday. Walker, of Winnsboro, drowned as he attempted to save his wife and the 7-year-old girl. The two were pulled out of the water by a passing bicyclist.
The siblings are under the care of a foster family, said Marissa Gonzalez, spokeswoman for Child Protective Services in Arlington. A therapist is available to help them, she said.
"Obviously, it is a really, really tough time for them," Gonzalez said. "The little girl is OK, but it is a really sad situation for everyone involved."
The drowning occurred at a low-water dam between the Interstate 30 and West Lancaster Avenue bridges.
Hours after saving the woman and girl, bicyclist Jim Harrison went to check in on the woman at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth.
He said her family and church members thanked him.
"That really was the thing that brought it full circle," Harrison said Tuesday. "They could have lost everything."
The low-water dam is one of three in Trinity Park that feature chutes or channels. The dams are maintained by the Tarrant Regional Water District.
Water district officials are gathering facts surrounding Monday's drowning.
"As we do with all tragedies of this nature, we will gather facts and evaluate how the public accesses this low-water dam," spokesman Chad Lorance said.
The district maintains 16 low-water dams throughout the Fort Worth floodway, which covers the Trinity River from downtown to near Camp Carter on the West Fork, and to Southwest Boulevard on the Clear Fork. The three ...