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The boy was a part of a group of six who were rescued via boat from the Potomac Sunday afternoon — two from the shores of Sherwin Island and four who were clinging to rocks across from Old Angler’s Inn on the Virginia side of the river, Garcia said.

The boy was taken to a hospital as a precaution, Garcia said. Garcia said the six had been together.

Swimming or wading in the Potomac Gorge is forbidden, according to the National Park Service.

The incident comes in the wake of an awareness-raising campaign about river safety by the Potomac River Task Force, a group comprising Montgomery and Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Services, the National Park Service, and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Harbor Patrol, among others.

The heavy rainfall this spring has caused the river to swell, leading to high wave activity and treacherous currents, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police. According to the National Weather Service, with 7.52 inches of rainfall recorded at Baltimore-Washington International Airport so far this May, the month has been the second wettest ever recorded there — the first since 1989, when 8.71 inches were recorded.

On May 19, Natural Resources Police issued its third advisory this spring, warning recreational boaters and tubers to stay off the water. The warning was extended through the Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start to the boating season.

‘‘The river can look calm at times, but it’s very easy for visitors to be fooled,” said Kevin Brandt, superintendent of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. ‘‘...Even at low levels, the river’s velocity can surprise you.”

Thursday, representatives from the task force invited reporters for a rescue boat ride out of Old Anglers’ Inn in Potomac in an effort to get the word out to the public about river safety.

‘‘Those can cause some damage to a boat,” said Mike Eddy of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Service, gesturing to a swift-moving tree trunk rapidly floating by the swift-water rescue boat he was guiding along the river.

High water this spring has caused debris to be swept into the river, Eddy said.

During the recreation season, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department usually perform a river rescue about once a week, Eddy said. Rescue boats are also often deployed by the Cabin John Volunteer Fire Service, many times to respond to injured hikers along the Billy Goat Trail, a rocky stretch of hiking path that borders the river. This time of year can be particularly dangerous — hikers and boaters are increasing in number, but the temperature of the water is still cold at about 58 degrees.

‘‘Hypothermia can set in pretty quick,” Eddy said. A shivering kayaker learned this lesson after she lost her vessel Thursday and was brought to shore by rescuers.

Park officials said at the event Thursday that due to high gas prices, more people in the Washington area will be using the parks this season in an effort to stay closer to home. Officials have implemented an outreach campaign to park visitors, encouraging them to use caution around the river and wear proper footwear on the Billy Goat Trail, a stretch of trail that runs alongside the Potomac River. Officials liken the trail’s difficulty level to trails in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.

‘‘Because of our proximity to Washington, D.C., we often see visitors in inappropriate footwear,” said Joe Lawler, regional director of the National Park Service’s national capital region.

Though this season may be a particularly dangerous one, officials say deaths from accidental drowning are down. There hasn’t been an accidental death in the river for four years, according to Bill Line, a spokesman for the National Park Service’s national capital region. Prior to that, there were five or six a year.

Officials credit inter-organizational communication and efforts to inform visitors about the rivers dangers through signs and leaflets in several languages for improving river safety. ‘‘We will continue to work together for the public’s benefit,” Lawler said.

by Erin Donaghue | Staff Writer

http://www.gazette.net/stories/052808/montnew190323_32367.shtml