Lake Lanier expected to be busy this Fourth of July weekend

ATLANTA - The Georgia DNR says Lake Lanier may be one of the busiest lakes east of the Mississippi for the Fourth of July weekend, and they want to make sure it is the safest.

"To relate this weekend's activity on the waterway to a highway that everybody's familiar with, it'll be rush hour on I-285," said Major Stephen Adams with the Georgia DNR Law Enforcement Division.

Georgia Game Wardens say they will be on the water this weekend. They will be enforcing the child life jacket law, looking for boaters under the influence, and watching for other violations. "We will be out in force, and there will be no warnings for boating under the influence," Adams said.

Jason Waters and his family were stopped by a game warden and were in compliance with everything. He says he loves the lake, but they came out on Thursday to avoid the crowds. "I don't like being out here on the Fourth of July weekend," he said. "I just avoid the lake; I've done it before, but it's not worth it to me. It's just too busy."

One of the new things game wardens are on the lookout for is wakeboarders and wake surfers. A new law goes into effect on Saturday that requires they stay at least 200 feet away from everything, like boats, bridges, and even the shore. The law also only allows it during daylight hours and requires a life jacket to be worn. "It’s to promote public safety so the wave or wake doesn’t knock someone down who’s on a dock or on a shoreline, and the second is for the protection of property," Major Adams said.

So far this year, DNR says three people have drowned at Lake Lanier, and the agency hopes people stay safe this holiday. "Lifejackets save lives," Adams said. "That is one of the worst calls that a game warden or any other officer on the water can get is an in-progress drowning. Those don't happen when lifejackets are used."