(Des Moines)– A special enforcement operation will be taking place on the water again this 4th of July holiday period.
Rachel Alliss, Boating Educator Coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says Operation Dry Water gets underway Friday, July 3rd, and will run through Sunday, July 5th with an emphasis on operators who are impaired…
“Alcohol and drugs severely impair your judgement, balance, vision, reaction time, and all those things are needed to operate a vessel safely. Compound that with being out in the sun, that rocking action of the waves and the wind, a lot of times it just intensifies. You just think you’re having a great time and don’t realize the affects of what’s happening. Nationally a third of all boating fatalities involve alcohol, so we’re really trying to make sure everyone goes out, has fun, stays sober, alerts, wears their lifejacket and then comes home to be with their family.”
In 2025, the Iowa DNR and its partners interacted with more than 1,230 vessels containing 5,036 boaters with 382 citations or warnings issued as part of Operation Dry Water.
