LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Marine Patrol will conduct a boating under the influence (BUI) checkpoint on Clear Lake this weekend.

The checkpoint will take place on Saturday, June 25, according to Capt. James Bauman.

California State Parks and the California Department of Fish and Game will assist with the operation, which Bauman said is intended to reduce the number of alcohol-related accidents and injuries, and to enforce other California boating laws on the waters of Clear Lake.

He said boaters will be stopped briefly and questioned. Any boat operators showing signs of alcohol use, intoxication or impairment may be subject to further testing.

Anyone found to have a blood-alcohol (BA) content higher than .08 percent may be subject to arrest and incarceration, Bauman said.

Saturday’s checkpoint is being conducted in conjunction with “Operation Dry Water 2011.” Bauman said Operation Dry Water was launched in 2009 by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) in partnership with the United States Coast Guard and has been a highly successful effort to draw public attention to the hazards of Boating Under the Influence (BUI) of alcohol and drugs.

Held in June just prior to the Fourth of July holiday, Operation Dry Water is a national weekend of BUI detection and enforcement aimed at reducing the number of alcohol and drug-related accidents and fatalities and fostering a stronger and more visible deterrent to alcohol and drug use on the water, according to Bauman.

Operation Dry Water is coordinated by NASBLA, in partnership with the states, the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies, he said.

In 2010, all 50 States and six U.S. Territories participated in Operation Dry Water. Over that three-day weekend there were 40,127 vessels and 66,472 boaters contacted by law enforcement, 322 BUI arrests made, and 4,171 citations and 7,522 warnings issued for safety violations, Bauman reported.

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