In a county that sees roughly 140 days a year above 90 degrees, a pool is closer to a necessity than a luxury. Riverside's long, hot summers are exactly why backyard, HOA and community pools are woven into daily life across the Inland Empire — and why the water is never far from a child.
That constant proximity to water carries a cost.
A problem worse than the state's
Between 2018 and 2022, Riverside County's age-adjusted drowning death rate climbed to about 7.5 per 100,000 residents, according to a Riverside University Health System report. California's statewide rate over a comparable period was roughly 1.1 per 100,000 — meaning the county's rate runs several times higher than the state's.
The youngest residents bear the heaviest share. Drowning was the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4 in Riverside County from 2018 to 2022, county public health officials reported. Newer figures tell the same story: between 2020 and 2024, 430 county children under 18 visited emergency departments for drowning and submersion injuries — nearly 84% of them younger than 5 — and 24 died, 19 of them under age 5. Riverside University Health System and First 5 Riverside County released the data this year, citing California Department of Public Health figures.
County data also shows fatal pool drownings clustering at the two ends of life — among the youngest children and older adults.
Casey Johnson, a partner at Aitken Aitken Cohn, a personal injury firm with an office in Riverside, has spent years representing families after severe pool injuries. He points to the density of pools in the region — backyard, HOA and community — which exposes people, especially young children, to water far more often. But exposure alone isn't the whole story.
"Every pool owner and operator has a responsibility to make sure those pools are properly maintained, clearly marked, and equipped with the safety features required by law," Johnson said. "While every case is different, many of the tragedies we see are preventable."
Drowning doesn't look like the movies
Contrary to the thrashing, shouting struggle shown on screen, drowning is usually silent and fast — a person slipping under in less time than it takes a nearby adult to look up from a phone.
Johnson said the misconceptions run deeper than that. People sometimes assume a drowning is simply a tragic accident, or that the injured person must have been at fault. "One of the first questions we ask is whether the pool owner or operator complied with all applicable safety codes and industry standards," he said. "Those requirements aren't just technicalities — they're designed to prevent tragedies."
"The biggest failures are often the simplest ones," he said — missing warnings, faded markings, a pool that doesn't meet code. The visual cues most swimmers never consciously register are exactly what let them spot a hazard; when they're gone, people wander into danger without knowing it.
What Johnson notices at a pool, an ordinary family or HOA board would walk right past — a checklist most people have never run. Are there clearly visible "No Diving" signs? Can depth markers be read easily from both the deck and in the water? Is the layout intuitive, or does the design itself invite a mistake?
In one case the firm handled, he said, the absence of required warning signs, faded depth markers and an unusual pool design combined to create a hazard no swimmer would have anticipated — the kind of overlooked detail behind a catastrophic spinal cord injury.
What the law actually requires — and where pools fall short
California's Swimming Pool Safety Act sets a minimum standard. For residential pools and spas, it requires an enclosure barrier at least 60 inches tall, gates that are self-closing and self-latching, and drain covers that meet federal anti-entrapment standards. Pools built or substantially remodeled since 2018 must add at least two of seven approved drowning-prevention features, from alarms to safety covers.
Those are minimums every owner should take seriously, Johnson said. "Too often, owners assume that because a pool has been there for years, it's compliant," he said. Barriers and gates are only the start; visible depth markers, legible warning signs and other required features matter just as much, and they deteriorate. Regular inspection and maintenance, he said, aren't optional.
When a pool doesn't meet code and someone is seriously hurt, responsibility turns on who owned, controlled or maintained the property — a homeowner, an HOA, a property manager — and the same expectation applies to all of them. "Pool owners and operators are expected to comply with applicable safety codes and industry standards," he said. "When they fail to do so, and someone is seriously injured as a result, they can be held legally responsible for the harm caused."
What Riverside families can do before summer
Johnson's core message is that most of these deaths don't have to happen — and that prevention starts with something anyone can do this weekend.
"Take a walk around your pool before anyone gets in the water," he said. "Small maintenance issues that seem insignificant can have life-changing consequences if they're ignored."
For HOA boards, the message is the same with higher stakes, since a single community pool serves dozens of families. "Pool safety requirements exist because they save lives," Johnson said. "They're not optional recommendations or paperwork." Before opening a community pool for the season, he said, boards should confirm that every required safety feature is in place and working.
Beyond the checklist, the county offers families help. First 5 Riverside County provides survival-swim and group lessons for children as young as 6 months at more than 20 locations across the county. The City of Riverside's aquatics program runs Red Cross-certified swim lessons at low cost and opens its public pools for the summer season with free swim days on summer Wednesdays through a partnership with the Riverside Police Foundation. Riverside University Health System's water safety program also offers free "water watcher" tags at rivcowatersafety.org, a simple tool for designating one undistracted adult to keep eyes on the water.
None of it replaces the oldest rule at any pool: watch the water, and don't assume someone else is.
More information: Aitken Aitken Cohn's Riverside office is at 7121 Magnolia Ave., Suite A, near the 91 Freeway at Magnolia and Arlington. The office can be reached at 951-534-4006, and aitkenlaw.com.
