QUINCY — A 24-year-old Quincy woman died when she lost control of her car and drove into a large irrigation canal near Quincy, apparently sometime Sunday.  

Erika Martinez Chavez was driving on a canal maintenance road near Road 7 Northwest when she apparently lost control of the vehicle, according to a press release from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. The vehicle went into the canal and Martinez Chavez was unable to get out of the car, the GCSO release said. 

“This was one of the larger canals,” said Kyle Foreman, GCSO public information officer. “It’s about 75 feet wide and the water was about 20 feet deep.”  

Her family last heard from Martinez Chavez on Sunday night, according to the GCSO press release. 

“The road her home address was on was Road 9 Northwest, which wasn’t far and in the direction she was heading from the incident site,” Foreman said.  

The pilot of a helicopter flying over a nearby orchard saw the car in the water Monday afternoon and notified authorities, the press release said.  

Canal maintenance roads are owned by the irrigation districts that manage them, Foreman said. Access rules may vary from district to district, but drivers should stay off them regardless.  

“Canal maintenance roads are not intended for traffic,” Foreman said. 

Drivers should use the other options available to get where they’re going, he said. 

“In most cases you’re probably going to be able to reach your destination by using county-maintained roads,” he said.