Calif. Lake Where Naya Rivera Tragically Drowned Reopens to the Public with Extra Precautions
The California lake, where Naya Rivera drowned in July, is reopening to the public with additional precautions.
According to the park's website, Lake Piru Recreational Area reopened on Aug. 17 after being closed since the Glee actress, 33, first went missing.
The lake, located in Ventura County, remained off-limits to the public after Rivera's death as the coronavirus pandemic continued to plague the area. However, locals told TMZ that they believe the recent restrictions were due in part to Rivera's drowning.
A representative of the Lake Piru Parks Management Company did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
Park management has now added safety and health precautions to slow the spread of the virus, including a ban on swimming.
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Shore fishing, boating activities, and personal watercrafts, however, are permitted on the lake.
Rivera was confirmed dead on July 13 — five days after she disappeared during a trip to Lake Piru. She was reported missing after renting a pontoon boat with her 4-year-old son, Josey Dorsey.
When the boat became overdue for return after its three-hour rental, staff found it at the north side of the lake, with Josey wearing a life jacket, sleeping alone on board. An adult life jacket, believed to be the one provided to Rivera, was still on the boat.
One day later, police announced she was presumed dead, maintaining they considered her disappearance to be a "horrible accident."
On July 14, the Ventura County Medical Examiner announced that an autopsy had been conducted and revealed Rivera's cause of death as drowning and the manner of her death was an accident.
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According to TMZ, the pontoon which Rivera rented on the day she went missing is no longer available to rent and has been placed in storage.
After Rivera's disappearance, over 50,000 people signed a Change.org petition urging officials to put up signs at Lake Piru to warn swimmers of its dangerous conditions.
"Naya Rivera is not the first, nor the last to go missing at Lake Piru," Erin Jordan, the petition's creator, wrote in the description. "Lake Piru is a very deep lake with very bad whirlpools, people have been asking for years for the city to put up warning signs for swimmers."
Approximately seven people drowned in Lake Piru between 1994 and 2000, according to the Los Angeles Times.
