Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials say the heat will be on for those recreating on the water this summer as the agency ups enforcement amid a wave of drownings and water-related deaths. 

Still early in the summer season, Colorado Parks and Wildlife public information officer Rachel Gonzales said there have already been around 20 recreation-related water fatalities across the state so far this year.

“It’s not even the Fourth of July weekend yet, and we’re at almost 20 recreation-related water fatalities. That’s not okay,” Gonzales said. “We as an agency are stepping up patrol and enforcement.”

For the past couple years, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has kept an unofficial count of water-related deaths that occur in state parks or were reported to the agency. So far this year, water related deaths are outpacing last year, when 32 people died throughout the summer season. This year is trending closely with 2022, when a record-breaking 42 people died while recreating in the water. 

Already this summer, water related deaths threaten to surpass 2021, when Colorado Parks and Wildlife recorded 22 deaths across the entire summer.

Gonzales said to help reverse the tide on this summer’s deadly trend, state officials are urging anyone heading out on the water to wear a piece of equipment that is well-known but all-too-often neglected: a life jacket.

“We’re to the point where we’re now begging people to please wear them,” Gonzales said. “They’re so important. I think life vest tan lines are the coolest tan lines out there.”

Life jackets live up to their name

Whitewater activities like rafting accounted for a number of the deaths so far this season as rivers have surged due to a strong snowpack and a warm spring.

When a 56-year-old man died in a rafting accident in the Yarmony Rapids of the Colorado River last month, neither he nor his partner, who has been reported missing, were wearing life jackets.

A New Castle man, identified as an experienced river-user, also died last month while rafting on the Colorado River. He also was not wearing a life jacket, often referred to as a personal flotation device, or PFD. 

While flows on the Colorado River and other many whitewater destinations in the state are not as high as they were a couple weeks ago, Mesa County Search and Rescue volunteer Nicholas Ingalls said that doesn’t mean rafters should drop their guard.

“Our accident type is typically ‘inexperienced person falls out of boat without a PFD.’ That is the classic most likely kind of accident that is going to result in a fatality,” Ingalls said. “The vast majority of (fatal) accidents are caused by a lack of PFDs.”

Extreme sports like whitewater rafting may account for some water-related deaths, but Colorado Parks and Wildlife public information officer Bridget O’Rourke said that activities like paddleboarding or kayaking on ponds and reservoirs can also be dangerous. In fact, there have been more water-related deaths on flatwater this year than on swiftwater, O’Rourke said.

“What we’re noticing is that this season people are not wearing their life jackets,” O’Rourke said. “So when their boat is capsizing they don’t have time to get their life jacket on even if it’s on their kayak or paddleboard.”

That has been true across the Western Slope, where ponds and reservoirs can be ice cold and where high winds and storms can strike out of nowhere and be hard to anticipate, O’Rourke said. The difference between wearing a life jacket and not wearing one can literally be the difference between life and death, she said.

In May, a 28-year-old man died after being knocked from his paddleboard in high winds at Harvey Gap State Park. The same month, a 26-year-old man died after a gust of strong wind knocked him from his paddleboard at Rifle Gap State Park. A 25-year-old also drowned after his canoe capsized at Trout Lake south of Telluride. Life jackets were not worn during any of these incidents.

But across the mountains, life jackets have saved countless lives. In late July, for example, three people — all wearing paddling life jackets — were OK after crashing into a tree while rafting on the Roaring Fork River near Basalt.

Life jackets also lived up to their name when a windstorm capsized several boats at the Dillon Reservoir in Summit County over Memorial Day weekend. All three people rescued that day were hypothermic by the time teams pulled them from the 43-degree water. Luckily, all three were also wearing life jackets that kept their heads above water until rescuers could reach them.

“It’s sad to think that out of the over 20 water-related fatalities this year, the majority of those could have been prevented if the person was wearing a life jacket,” O’Rourke said. “It really is a life saver.”

Life jackets are the law

As the summer warms up and more people seek refuge on the water, Gonzales said Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers have been instructed to be on the look-out for life-jacket related violations.

Under Colorado state law children under the age of 13 must wear a life jacket whenever they are on a vessel, including kayaks and paddleboards. Meanwhile, adults must carry a properly fitting life jacket with them on their vessel. There is a $100 fine for violations.

“It may not seem like much, but that’s $100 that can go to something else,” Gonzales said. “And your life is worth more than $100.”

While the letter of the law may only require adults to carry a life jacket on their vessel, Gonzales noted that having a life jacket onboard does no good if someone ends up in the water without it. Wearing a life jacket also sets a good example for children who are around, she added.

O’Rourke noted that several state parks and other popular locations like the Dillon Reservoir have life jacket loaner stations where people can borrow life jackets for free. With the Fourth of July holiday ahead, O’Rourke said that officials will not only be strictly enforcing life jacket rules this weekend but will also be cracking down on boating while impaired.

Operation Dry Water, an enforcement operation timed to educate visitors over the holiday about the dangers of boating under the influence, will be in full force headed into the Fourth of July weekend, O’Rourke said. The operation will include increased patrols and checkpoints.

Sun, wind, noise, vibration and motion while boating can intensify the effects of alcohol, such as impaired judgment, balance, vision and slowed reaction times, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Boaters with a blood alcohol content above the .08 state limit could be arrested for boating under the influence.

One drink on the land is about equivalent to three drinks on the water, O’Rourke said. That increase in impairment could make it extra important to wear a life jacket, she said.

“(Boating) intensifies the effects of alcohol, and it impairs balance and vision and reaction time,” O’Rourke said, “which again is why it is so important to be wearing a life jacket if you’re going to be doing that.”