Twelve people have died on Colorado’s rivers and lakes so far in 2024, raising concerns among state officials as water-related deaths are already higher than this time last year.

Four people died or went missing in water-related accidents since Thursday, including a woman who died after a river raft crashed into a bridge pylon in Poudre Canyon; one man who died and a second who is missing after a rafting accident on the Colorado River southwest of Kremmling; and a man who drowned in Chatfield Reservoir.

That’s in addition to eight water-related deaths tracked by Colorado Parks and Wildlife before Memorial Day, which is “very high” for this point in the season, spokesperson Kara Van Hoose said Monday.

There is no statewide authority that keeps an official tally of water-related deaths in Colorado, though the CPW keeps an unofficial count, Van Hoose said.

Colorado saw 32 water-related deaths in 2023 and a record-high of 42 deaths in 2022, according to CPW.

“We don’t want to hit 2022 numbers, but it’s certainly alarming to see that number of fatal accidents,” Van Hoose said Monday.

Wearing a life jacket, knowing the forecast and being prepared for changing weather is the best way people can be safe on the water, Van Hoose said.

Three people were rescued from Dillon Reservoir on May 25 after a windstorm capsized a kayak and canoe, sending boaters into 43-degree water, according to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. All were wearing life jackets, which likely saved their lives, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

It’s not enough to have a life jacket nearby when you’re on the water, Van Hoose said.

“What we see a lot of times is people have the life jacket with them on the vessel but they’re not wearing it,” Van Hoose said. “The life jacket doesn’t do you a lot of good if you’re not wearing it.”

Any pets along for the ride also need to be strapped into their own flotation device, Van Hoose added.

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