In early August 2025, a claim spread online about an unusual request from U.S. Vice President JD Vance's team ahead of a boating trip.
"JD Vance had the Army Corps raise an Ohio river's water level—just so he could kayak for his birthday. Yes, seriously," one Facebook post said. "Major scoop from The Guardian."
Rumors about the Vance team's alleged manipulation of Ohio's waterways also spread on platforms like Reddit, X, Bluesky and TikTok. Meanwhile, the Snopes email inbox swelled with a flood of questions about whether Vance actually adjusted a river's water levels for a "better kayaking experience."
As first reported by The Guardian, Vance's Secret Service team did, in fact, request that the Army Corps of Engineers adjust the water outflow of Caesar Creek Lake in Ohio, which feeds into Little Miami River — where a Reddit user spotted Vance canoeing on Aug. 2, his birthday. We feel
Both the Army Corps of Engineers and the Secret Service said any adjustments to water levels ahead of Vance's trip were for the safety of Secret Service personnel. An anonymous source interviewed by The Guardian alleged that the request was also to create "ideal kayaking conditions," but neither The Guardian nor Snopes could independently confirm this claim.
"The Secret Service often employs protective measures without the knowledge of the Vice President or his staff, as was the case last weekend," a spokesperson from Vance's office said in an email. His office did not immediately provide on-the-record responses to other questions asked by Snopes.
Here's everything we know.
Why did officials raise the river's water levels?
In an email, Gene Pawlik, a spokesperson for the Army Corps of Engineers, confirmed that the "U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville received a request to temporarily increase outflows from Caesar Creek Lake to support safe navigation of U.S. Secret Service personnel." Pawlik said the request "did not require a deviation from normal procedures."
"It was determined that the operations would not adversely affect downstream or upstream water levels. Downstream stakeholders were notified in advance of the slight outflow increase, which occurred August 1, 2025," Pawlik wrote.
While Alexi Worley, a spokesperson for the Secret Service, said in an emailed statement that the agency could not share details about its "operational planning," Worley acknowledged that the security detail worked with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Army Corps of Engineers to "ensure that motorized watercraft and emergency personnel could operate safely with appropriate water levels during a recent visit."
As reported by The Guardian, public data indicated a drop in the water level at Caesar Creek Lake on Aug. 2 and an increase at Caesar Creek and Little Miami River.
Water level data for Caesar Creek Lake, July 30 to Aug. 6, 2025. (U.S. Geological Survey)
Water level data for Caesar Creek, July 31 to Aug. 7, 2025. (U.S. Geological Survey)
Water level data for Little Miami River, July 31 to Aug. 7, 2025. (U.S. Geological Survey)
As of this writing, the only indication that Vance's team requested an adjustment to water levels at Caesar Creek Lake for "ideal kayaking conditions" was the anonymous source's allegation in The Guardian.
Snopes could not determine the identity of the aforementioned source. Stephanie Kirchgaessner, one of The Guardian's reporters on this story, said in an email that she could not provide more information than what she and her colleague, David Smith, already reported.
Strangely, some precedent exists for raising the water levels of a river ahead of a vice president's canoe trip. During former Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign, the local utility decided — without a request from Gore's team — to raise the water level by dumping "millions of gallons of water into the drought-stricken river" to "keep Gore from the embarrassment of running aground," The New York Times reported in 1999.