Colonel Eric T. Olson, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, has announced the patrol will participate in “Operation Dry Water.”
A news release says “Operation Dry Water’ is in its 11th year, and Missouri has participated since the program’s inception. This national campaign includes marine law-enforcement officers from all 50 states and six U.S. territories.
During the campaign, officers will coordinate special patrols to keep waterways safe from boaters operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Boating under the influence applies to drugs as well as alcohol. Even some prescription medications can make operating a recreational vessel unsafe. Alcohol use can impair a boater’s judgment, balance, vision, and reaction time. The dangers of combining alcohol and boating also apply to passengers.
Last year, 574 local, state and federal agencies participated in a weekend long event of heightened BWI enforcement known as Operation Dry Water. Officers removed 494 intoxicated boat operators from the water. In addition, law-enforcement officers contacted 201,888 boaters concerning BWI or boating safety enforcement and awareness.
In 2018, troopers arrested a total of seven people statewide for boating while intoxicated, contacted 710 vessels and 2,301 boaters, and issued 84 boating violation summonses and 951 warnings on Missouri waterways. Marine operations troopers also issued 125 summonses for non-boating violations during the 2018 Operation Dry Water weekend.
This year, July 5-7 has been designated as “Operation Dry Water” weekend.