Drunken boating arrests on the decline in Iowa

Despite a new law dropping the legal blood-alcohol limit while operating a boat and a promise from the Department of Natural Resources to crack down on violators, state officers have made fewer boating-while-intoxicated arrests.

Through July 31, officers arrested 22 people statewide on suspicion of drunk boating, compared with 31 in the same time period last year.

This year's tally is the lowest arrest rate since at least 2006, when officers arrested 39 people through July 31, said Susan Stocker, boating law administrator and education coordinator for the Department of Natural Resources.

The decline in BWI arrests could be related to heightened awareness around the new law, which took effect July 1, lowering the legal blood alcohol limit for boater operators from 0.10 to 0.08, Stocker said.

“That was huge for us,” she said. “We are really glad that law passed.”

The DNR also credits the drop to its education campaign, “Operation Dry Water.”

The department has 86 full-time officers patrolling Iowa's public bodies of water this summer, plus an additional 20 seasonal officers on patrol from Memorial Day to Labor Day, Stocker said. That's comparable to past years.

In June, the department announced that its officers had contacted nearly 800 people on more than 200 boats. Dozens of those contacts resulted in warnings, citations or arrests.

“People need to understand that drinking alcohol and boating don't mix,” she said.

Iowa also has recorded fewer boat-related accidents this year, with 26 through July 31. That is behind pace for the average 54 in a year, Stocker said.

The decline could be related to the drop in BWI arrests, she said, because of the connection between boating accidents and alcohol. Of last year's 54 total boating incidents, 18 percent involved alcohol. In 2009, 15 percent of the total 41 boat incidents were alcohol-related.

On average, Stocker said, more than half the state's boating fatalities every year involve alcohol.

Three of last year's five boating fatalities involved alcohol, and two of the three fatal accidents in 2009 involved alcohol, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

There have been three fatal boating accidents in Iowa this year, including the likely drowning of an 18-year-old whose boat capsized on the Des Moines River in April. Those cases remain open, however, and investigators haven't determined whether alcohol was involved.

Stocker said boating accidents often are linked to alcohol because elements involved in being on the water - the wind, the waves, the heat and dehydration - can amplify the effects of an inebriant.

“A person who drinks an alcoholic beverage when out on a boat will feel almost twice to three times the effect of an alcoholic drink (on land),” she said. “A person will be unable to react quickly in an emergency situation.”

Brad Baker, conservation officer for the department, said most of the people who go boating and choose to enjoy themselves with a few alcoholic beverages know how to behave appropriately.

“But there's a few who can ruin it for everyone else,” he said.