EPHRATA — Operation Dry Water, a national boating under the influence awareness and enforcement campaign, begins Saturday, according to a statement from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

For the 15th year, GCSO marine deputies will be on the water providing heightened enforcement and awareness about the dangers of boating while impaired, according to the statement.

The 2023 Operation Dry Water weekend is taking place July 1-3, the statement said, just prior to the Fourth of July – a holiday known for drinking and boating and deadly incidents. GCSO’s Marine Deputies will conduct BUI-focused enforcement on Grant County lakes and the Columbia River and educate the public on the dangers of boating under the influence, the statement said.

The GCSO statement offered some facts about BUI:

• Alcohol is the leading contributor to recreational boating deaths; in 2022, boaters impaired by alcohol were a factor in 16% of boating fatalities.

• BUI is illegal. Operating a recreational vessel with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher is against Washington state law.

• Alcohol can impair a boater's judgment, balance, vision, and reaction time. It can increase fatigue and susceptibility to the effects of cold-water immersion.

• Boating under the influence applies to drugs, as well as alcohol. Even some prescription medications can make operating a recreational vessel unsafe. Check with your doctor about the effects of any medications you may be taking.

• Marijuana affects areas of the brain that control your body's movements, balance, coordination, memory, and judgment. Marijuana use can impair important skills required for safe driving by slowing your reaction time and ability to make decisions, impairing coordination, and distorting perception.

• Penalties for BUI include fines, jail, impoundment of the boat and loss of boating privileges.

• Sun, wind, noise, vibration, and motion – stressors common to the boating environment – intensify the effects of alcohol, drugs, and some medications.

• Alcohol use is dangerous for passengers too. Intoxicated passengers can easily slip, fall overboard or suffer other life-threatening incidents.

"We would rather arrest you than have to tell your family you've been killed in a boating incident," the GCSO wrote in the statement.