AUSTIN, Texas — For Travis County game wardens Jaren Cox and Wade Pierce, there’s little time to waste when you’re a team of four patrolling nearly 1,000 square miles across Central Texas.
“It’s centered around water safety, making sure people are having a good time but being safe while they’re doing it,” Cox said.
With record temperatures across the state this summer, thousands of Texans took to lakes and rivers, increasing the need to patrol the state’s vast waterways. Despite constant enforcement, hundreds of tickets and warnings issued and strict regulations designated by the Texas Water Safety Act, wardens across the state still responded to approximately three dozen drownings and 25 boat-related fatalities just this year.
“A lot of people not paying attention to where they’re going and what they’re doing,” Cox said. “Been working a lot of those and another major issue we hit in enforcement is a lack of life jackets. One of our biggest things; it’s a zero tolerance for our department.”
Along with many of these preventable calls, the increased heat has also kept those patrolling the region on high alert. Beyond simple dehydration, the receding water levels — some as much as 50 feet — have narrowed the space between humans and boats.
“They’re now getting compressed moving closer and closer, and you can imagine how more accidents can happen,” Cox said.
It’s not just on the water as well, many of these wardens also spot and assist on several wildfire incidents due to the extremely dry conditions brought on by rising temperatures.
For Cox and Pierce, along with other wardens across the state, their job is challenging but the message remains simple: respect the water and be prepared for every possible situation.
“Having everything available safety-wise is great,” Cox said. “If anyone needs help, reach out to us while we’re out here, we encourage it.”