EDITORIAL from Statesman.com - Friday, June 16, 2006

Lake Travis is fun – but it's also a killer

EDITORIAL BOARD

She is a beauty, a shimmering jewel set in the rocky hills of Central Texas. But make no mistake, the enticing Lake Travis is a killer.

In any given year, about six people die on Lake Travis, one of the chain of impoundments along the Colorado River. This year is emerging as a particularly deadly one. The summer season has just begun and already five people have died.

All the safety education, illustration and enforcement in the world are useless if people ignore them. And that seems to be what happens year after year. The result is 21 drowning deaths in the past three years, plus several other deaths in boating accidents.

Almost all of those deaths were preventable had three simple things been observed: Limit the amount of alcohol consumed, always wear a safety device and stay aware of where the swimmers and partiers are at all times. It also helps to avoid boating after dark.

Travis is a dangerous body of water because it is narrow, with a profusion of underwater hazards. The lake becomes more dangerous in drought times — like now — because the water level drops precipitously.

And it's heavily used, with more than half a million people swimming, boating and floating in its waters annually. The large number of people means much more danger. There are dozens of boating accidents on the 64-mile-long lake every year.

Most of the lake's victims are young. Three of the four 2006 drowning victims were 25 or younger. The fourth drowning victim was 39, and a 37-year-old died after a crash on a personal watercraft.

That concerns the Lower Colorado River Authority, which controls the chain of Highland Lakes, and the state agency is trying to get the message across to young people that the lake is dangerous.

That's a tough sell to bulletproof, invincible 21-year-olds who are on the lake to party. But we applaud the LCRA for the effort. No one wants a repeat of 1985, when nine people drowned on Lake Travis. The more people — particularly young people — who hear the message, the better the chances that they will leave the lake alive.

Lake Travis exists, in part, for recreation. But recreation on a large, dangerous body of water demands attention to safety above all else.

Have fun, but limit your alcohol consumption, wear a flotation device, watch your buddies and have them watch out for you. Lake Travis might look inviting, but it's dangerous out there.

 

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