As water-related deaths in Colorado threaten to break records this summer, the state parks agency says enforcement is also at an all-time high, with officers issuing more citations for life-jacket violations than ever before.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife public information officer Bridget O’Rourke said the agency’s law enforcement officials so far this year have issued more than 430 citations related to life jackets, sometimes called personal flotation devices or PFDs.

With all of August still ahead, that puts the agency on track to smash last year’s record of 493 life-jacket citations. But even with the upped enforcement, recreation-related water fatalities, mostly involving people who weren’t wearing life jackets, are also trending near a record-setting pace this summer.

“We are enforcing our parks. We are doing education. We are monitoring as much as we can,” O’Rourke said. “Then it comes down to a person’s individual responsibility to wear a life jacket.”

While there is no state agency in charge of drowning statistics, Colorado Parks and Wildlife for several years has kept an unofficial count of water-related deaths that occur at state parks or were reported to the agency, O’Rourke said.

With 29 water-related deaths so far, this year is on track to be one of the deadliest in the state’s history. That is more water-related deaths than Colorado Parks and Wildlife counted in all of 2021, when 22 people died, and just shy of the 32 water-related deaths recorded last year, O’Rourke said.

Colorado first started to see an uptick in water-related deaths in the summer of 2020, when the pandemic drove a record-breaking 19 million people to visit the state’s parks, O’Rourke said. The 34 water-related deaths counted in 2020 set a record, which was soon surprised in 2022, when 42 people died recreating on the state’s water bodies, she said.

As water-related deaths skyrocketed this year ahead of the Fourth of July, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said they were “begging” people to wear life jackets. But as the more than 430 citations issued for life-jacket violations makes clear, state officials are not just asking nicely — they are demanding the public abide by life jacket laws.

“It sounds corny, but it is true that life jackets save lives,” O’Rourke said. “It’s scary sometimes in the outdoors, especially with unpredictable weather. It’s better to plan for the side of having more safety gear than not.”

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

This year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has already handed out more citations for life-jacket violations than the total number of boating-related citations, not just life-jacket violations, it issued in both 2020 and 2021, O’Rourke said. In total, the agency issued 400 boating citations in 2020 and 391 in 2021, she said.

Last year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife issued a record number of boating citations, issuing 924 total citations, including 497 for life-jacket violations. Comparing a life jacket to a seat belt, O’Rourke said even though the law only requires adults to have a life jacket with them, it is always better to have it on in case the unexpected happens on the water.

“Education is the biggest piece, stressing to people that wearing a life jacket can save your life,” O’Rourke said. “What we’re seeing is these unfortunate situations that are happening. Sometimes when you’re on the water you don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

State boat safety program manager Grant Brown told the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission last week that most water-related deaths this year involve paddle sports, like kayaking, rafting or stand-up paddleboarding.

Brown noted that the U.S. Coast Guard estimates that life jackets could have saved the lives of over 80% of boating fatality victims.

“The biggest thing we’re seeing in Colorado is a lack of knowledge about cold water immersion,” Brown said. “I think that’s probably the leading cause of our drownings in Colorado — (other than) of course, not wearing life jackets.”

Especially at high elevation in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, water bodies can be frigid cold, Brown said. When someone plunges into that cold water, he said it can cause a shock-like reaction, including an involuntary gasp that can cause someone to inhale water, he said. Such a shock can also cause muscles to cramp, making swimming difficult even for those who are usually strong swimmers.

Earlier this year, rescuers pulled three people, all of whom were hypothermic, from 43 degree waters after a windstorm knocked them from their vessels into the Dillon Reservoir. The Summit County Sheriff credited life jackets with saving their lives.

“Often times we hear, ‘Oh, could they not swim?'” Brown said. “A lot of times they could and they were good swimmers, but they’re not used to swimming in that cold water. It’s not a swimming pool.”

Another common issue relates to paddleboarders becoming separated from their watercraft, Brown said. While a paddleboarder might be carrying a life jacket on their craft, as required by state law, he said that does them no good if they are separated from the paddleboard when they end up in the water.

On flatwater, paddleboarders should wear a leash so that they are not separated from the board if they are knocked into the water, Brown said. He also recommended that anyone recreating on or near the water wear a life jacket, since that provides the most protection.

“Time again, you hear about paddleboarders that drowned that may have had their life jacket on the paddleboard, but when they fell off that person was not wearing a leash so the paddleboard got away from them,” Brown said.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission member James Tutchton suggested that the state look at possible regulations requiring paddleboarders to wear a leash anytime they are on flatwater bodies.

Commission member Jack Murphy stated, “You have to wear a seatbelt when you’re driving. Seems like you should have to wear a life jacket when you’re boating.”

Brown said that the only state that currently requires all boaters to wear a life jacket is Rhode Island.

Commission member Marie Kaskett noted that some state and local agencies have started providing free life jacket loaner stations at popular water recreation destinations for people who may not have brought their own. Kaskett suggested continuing to expand that program. 

“I think those should be everywhere,” Haskett said. “That’s a great thing to offer people who can’t purchase life jackets. They are there so they can use them. I think that’s great.”

This story is from SummitDaily.com