Alcohol and Boating: Police to Crackdown on Violators

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will increase enforcement of boating under the influence this weekend as part of a national crack down aimed at reducing alcohol related accidents.

The campaign is part of Operation Dry Water, a nationwide effort to reduce drinking and boating, which accounts for 19 percent of all boating fatalities, according to the sheriff’s department. 

The marine environment – motion, vibration, engine noise, sun and wind – accelerates a drinker’s impairment, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

From Friday to Sunday, deputies from the Marina del Rey station will be conducting BUI stops and establishing sobriety checkpoints. 

"We have boating accidents as a result of alcohol, and it becomes an issue," said Lt. Reginald Gautt of the Marina del Rey Sheriff's station.

In 2011, L.A. officers arrested two boaters for boating under the influence, one in Pyramid Lake and the other in Castaic Lake.