BUFORD — Yvette Bruno recalls her uncle, Ira Braitsch, as an avid sportsman whose love of the outdoors kept him on the trail of fish or wild game at least four times a week.

Braitsch adhered to all available precautions, his niece said. It’s his careful nature that has the family mystified as to why Braitsch encountered rough Chattahoochee River water on Sunday when his Tracker jon boat capsized, tossing in Braitsch and his buddy. The trout-fishing trip claimed the 64-year-old’s life.

Braitsch’s family believes the cold, swift waters caught the fishermen by surprise.

“My uncle would have never gone fishing that day if (the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) were releasing (Buford Dam),” said Bruno, a New Jersey resident visiting Gwinnett on Friday to attend Braitsch’s funeral. “They were definitely told that they were not releasing.”

Following Braitsch’s death Sunday, river enthusiasts called into question the Corps’ automated warning system, a recorded public safety service accessible by phone, radio and the Internet. A Corps official defended the warning for Buford Dam water releases, calling the system as a whole among the most affective in the United States.

Bob Hove, whose two sons are avid fly-fishermen, told the Daily Post the automated system made no mention of water releases as late as Saturday night. Braitsch and his friend — Michael Boyle, 67, who survived — reportedly hit a log and went in the water just before noon Sunday.

“That’s pretty tragic if those two old guys went out thinking there would be no release,” Hove said.

Tim Rainey, operations manager for the Corp, said records show the automated warning was updated at 1:55 p.m. Saturday, alerting Chattahoochee patrons to a release that spanned from 6:55 to 11:10 a.m. Sunday.

“Judging by all our information, we had everything posted as soon as we got it,” Rainey said.

Downstream flow rate data provided by the Corps show it takes three hours before a typical water release from Buford Dam will affect the area where the boat capsized, near McGinnis Ferry Road. Water completely recedes in that area in six hours.

A typical release won’t be flushed through Gwinnett County for 16 hours, the data show.

“There’s not like a wall of water or anything,” said Jerry Waldrip, 65, the Lawrenceville boater and seasoned Chattahoochee trout-fisherman credited with pulling Boyle from the water — and the last to see Braitsch alive. “It just rises fast.”

Rainey said there’s no protocol governing how long the automated system is updated before water is released. The recording warns river-goers that “schedules can change with hydropower demands or equipment failure” and that released waters “are subject to turbulent flows and are dangerous.”

Water is released primarily to create hydropower, but also to evacuate water from an overflowing Lake Lanier and ensure water quality downstream. Schedules change daily and are subject to last-minute switches, especially in the event of power failure at other generators, Rainey said.

Buford Dam continually releases about 600 cubic feet of water per second. Extra releases are commonly about 8,000 cfs — about 2,000 less than the Dam’s maximum release capabilities, Rainey said.

In addition to the automated messages, the Corps sounds a series of four horns near the river before each release. It has staked land-facing warning signs every 300 feet from the dam to Ga. Highway 20, otherwise known as the “Warning Area,” where life-jackets are required.

The dam will not release water if the cycle of horns — audible only to Ga. Highway 20 — does not complete, Rainey said.

“I don’t know of any other dam in the country that has the complex safety plan that we have,” Rainey said. “Usually there’s a horn on top of the dam, and that’s it. We have four spaced out over 21⁄2 miles.”

The boating death marked the second time Sunday the Gwinnett County Swiftwater Rescue Team was called to save someone in distress. The team responded to nine calls on the Chattahoochee in 2009.

The onset of spring-like temperatures likely brought a rush of river enthusiasts to the water Sunday, officials said.

Capt. Thomas Rutledge, Gwinnett Fire Department spokesman, urges river patrons to call the automated line immediately before entering the river and, if possible, to check periodically throughout the day.

“It’s a safe practice, because you don’t know,” he said. “It’s better to err on the side of caution.”

Searchers found Braitsch’s body about 24 hours after Waldrip saw him go under — and about three miles from where the craft had capsized. It marked the second Chattahoochee River fatality in Gwinnett since 2007.

Neither man was wearing a life jacket, and the water — purged from deep in Lake Lanier — was gauged at 45 degrees, officials said. Hypothermia, which can set in within 15 minutes, likely contributed, officials said.

Waldrip said the men had been in the water at least 10 minutes when he found them.

Rainey recommends anyone shooting the Hooch — by boat or by raft — wear life jackets at all times. It’s also wise to pick a marker on shore — a rock or tree, for instance — to gauge water rises, he said.

Whatever the culprit in Braitsch’s death, his niece said he leaves a painful void.

She said Braitsch frequented the river since moving to Georgia, and died doing what he loved. He leaves behind a wife, Faye, an 11-year-old granddaughter and his 90-year-old mother, Bruno said.

“My uncle was the greatest guy you would’ve ever wanted to know,” she said. “He would do anything for anyone.”

For updated information on Buford Dam water releases, call 770-945-1466. Schedules are also available online and on 1610 AM near the dam.