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Iowa DNR To Conduct Special Enforcement Campaign Focused On Boating While Intoxicated

June 28, 2023 Steve Schwaller

(Des Moines)– An annual campaign to boost enforcement of Iowa’s boating while intoxicated law is about to get underway. Susan Stocker, boating law administrator and education coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says “Operation Dry Water” gets underway this Saturday, July 1st, and runs through Monday, July 3rd…

“We’re going to be looking for making sure that everybody’s safe on the water and that we don’t have any intoxicated boaters that can ruin everybody’s day.”

Stocker says the statewide operation will consist of increased patrols, check points, and breath tests will be administered, along with informing the public about the dangers of drinking and boating…

“On the national level, certainly over 16 percent of all fatalities involve alcohol, and unfortunately in Iowa our stats go up to over almost double to over 30 percent of all fatalities involve alcohol.”

Stocker says wave action can enhance the effects of alcohol…

“It actually does, and people don’t realize and I often say that even though people are surrounded by water, they often forget that they need to drink water and stay hydrated. So alcohol, the sun, the wind, the noise, the vibration, and, you know, the rocking of the boat, they’re all stressers that are common to the boating environment and, you know, the intensify the effects of alcohol, drugs, and/or even some medications.”

She adds it’s important passengers be sober as well and that everyone on board have their head on a swivel…

“You know, passengers, if they become intoxicated, then they’re no longer able to assist the operator to look out for other boaters, and then they become a hazard and a danger to everybody around them.”

The Iowa Great Lakes ranked at the top of the list in 2022 in Iowa for arrests for boating while intoxicated, with 7. The total last year statewide was 36. During Operation Dry Water last year, the DNR and its partners contacted more than 1,425 vessels and 5,253 boaters resulting in 533 citations or warnings.

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