WOODBRIDGE — Prince William County police were on the Occoquan River on Thursday.
Officers on the county’s police boat could be been on the water talking with other boaters that were anchored in Belmont Bay in Woodbridge. The patrols came the before the start of a larger enforcement effort — Operation Dry Water.
This weekend, just before the biggest holiday of the summer, police will patrol the Potomac River and its tributaries in Prince William County making sure boaters are operating their crafts safely, and not under the influence of alcohol.
More in a press release:
Operation Dry Water (ODW) is a year-round, boating-under-the-influence, awareness and enforcement campaign. Its mission is to reduce the number of alcohol- and drug-related accidents and fatalities through increased recreational boater awareness and by fostering a stronger and more visible deterrent to alcohol use on the water.
Operation Dry Water’s heightened awareness and enforcement three-day weekend takes place annually around Independence Day. This year the campaign begins Friday and runs through July 1. Prince William County Police will be out on all navigable waters in the County, including the Occoquan and Potomac Rivers as well as at parks and businesses that front them.
The purpose of the heightened enforcement component of the Operation Dry Water campaign is to deter boaters from boating under the influence of drugs or alcohol. When boaters chose to boat impaired they are endangering not only themselves but also other boaters on the water.
Since the launch of Operation Dry Water in 2009, the number of boating fatalities with alcohol named as a contributing factor has decreased in the United States. However, alcohol use continues to be the leading known contributing factor in recreational boating deaths in the United States.
