An expected hot weekend will have sheriff’s deputies checking the Cedar River near Renton Saturday and Sunday to make sure recreationalists are portaging around a large logjam.

About a mile of the Cedar is closed upriver of the Cavanaugh Pond because of a large logjam at Cedar Rapids that has blocked the river.

About four miles of the river were closed in late March, but the length has since been shortened.

Deputy Chris Bedker with the King County Sheriff’s Office Marine and Dive Unit was out Friday afternoon to make sure warning signs to get out of the river were still in place.

He said the danger in that stretch of the river is “extreme.”

The Cedar Rapids closure is just downriver from a side channel of the Cedar that has been closed for several years because of a large logjam. A sign on the shore there warns people to stay off the logs.

The logjam piled up during last winter’s high flows on the Cedar that brought down trees along the river and scoured out some of the large logs placed to create fish habitat and act as bank stabilizers.

After 12 seasons on county rivers, Bedker has been involved in hundreds of rescues and recoveries – someone who has drowned – on the county’s rivers and lakes.

River users can have a safe and good time on the river if they use the proper equipment and take safety precautions, including wearing a life vest, he said. He has never done a “recovery” where someone was wearing some sort of personal floatation device.

The warmer weather comes as King County Executive Dow Constantine has proposed an ordinance that would require anyone on major rivers in unincorporated King County to wear a personal floatation device this summer.

“River flows are unusually swift and cold this year due to a heavy mountain snowpack that is melting into King County rivers. Rivers are inherently dangerous places to play, but this year is bringing additional risks. The wearing of life jackets is as essential for swimmers and boaters as helmets for cyclists and seat belts for drivers,” Constantine said in a press release.

The rule applies to anyone swimming, floating or boating on a river, including the Cedar, Snoqualmie, Tolt, Green, White, Raging and Skykomish rivers that run outside cities.

First infractions for failure to wear a floatation device would carry a warning, while subsequent infractions could result in a fine of up to $86.

The emergency ordinance will be introduced at the King County Council meeting on Monday.  The requirement would be in place through Oct. 31, once it’s adopted.

This summer, officials will evaluate the program, along with feedback from emergency first responders and the public, to determine whether changes are appropriate and whether to propose that the requirement should become permanent.