Use of Design Criteria to Reduce Drownings at Lakefront Facilities

Although providing quality lifeguarding services at water recreational facilities is effective in preventing drowning, some decision makers may elect not to hire lifeguards. In that case, environmental modifications to the facility can still improve safety for patrons. This section describes some environmental design changes that one water recreation provider used to reduce drownings at facilities that did not employ lifeguards.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the second largest provider of outdoor recreation facilities in the United States, managing more than 7 million surface acres of water and 4.5 million acres of land. Corps lakes are located in 43 states, and in 1998 staff recorded 2.6 billion visitor hours at these lakes. Approximately 58% of these hours (1.5 billion hours) are attributable to water recreation, such as swimming, wading, boating, water skiing, and fishing.

As a policy developed to limit liability, the Corps does not assign lifeguards to its facilities; it has a "swim at your own risk" policy. However, to reduce the number of drownings occurring at its beaches, the Corps established specific design criteria for its lakefront swimming beaches in 1987. These design criteria appear to have helped. Between 1971 and 1987, before the criteria were implemented, an average of 330 swimmers drowned each year. The design criteria were introduced between 1988 and 1998, and over that decade the yearly average fell to 183 drownings. These criteria are intended for inland lakes rather than surf beaches, where surf action makes them difficult to implement.

The majority of the design criteria for Corps swimming beaches relate to environmental controls. The priorities in the design of a beach are safety of the user, effects the physical features of the site will have on the beach, and future operation and maintenance considerations.

The Corps design criteria include estimating expected patron visitation levels; providing access for disabled persons; creating slope gradients that gradually and smoothly lead to deeper water; making efforts to ensure that the swimming area is protected from possible sources of contamination; maintaining consistent water levels; prohibiting diving platforms and swim floats; using buoys and markers to delineate the swim area and keep boats out; and ensuring the availability of additional safety measures such as rings, buoy lines, and poles. The complete design criteria for Corps swimming beaches can be found in Engineer Manual [EM -1110-1-400], Recreation Planning and Design Criteria, July 31, 1987.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also supports a comprehensive water safety information campaign. Corps employees who work in water safety throughout the United States develop a coordinated, annual water safety campaign. Evaluations of previous campaigns allow the Corps to identify specific water safety issues each year for a fullscale educational campaign at all its facilities. The campaigns include print and television public service announcements. Many of the messages target school-aged children, a high-risk group.