Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol will be out in force on the waters of Puget Sound this weekend in support of the 2012 nationalOperation Drywater campaign.

Operation Drywater will focus on enforcement of boating under the influence (BUI) laws and educating all boaters to the risks of operating a boat under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

Recreational boating fatalities last year jumped to their highest levels since 1998 and BUI was the leading contributing factor, according to the U.S. Coast Guard’s report, “2011 Recreational Boating Statistics.”

Officials say that BUI continues to be a major problem in the U.S. A boat operator or even passengers with a blood alcohol concentration above the per se limit of .08 run a significantly increased risk of being involved in a fatal boating accident. Alcohol was a contributing factor in just 6 percent of boating accidents overall, but figured in 16 percent of boating fatalities in the U.S. last year. When impaired by alcohol, boating accidents are more probable and more deadly for both passengers and boat operators, many of whom capsize their vessel or simply fall overboard.

Operation Dry Water 2012 is a joint program involving the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators, the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies throughout the state of Washington. For more information, visit www.operationdrywater.org.