KING COUNTY, WA - Today, Public Health-Seattle & King County Director Dr. Alonzo Plough joined with the King County Drowning Prevention Coalition in lauding the City of Seattle for the recent passage of the revisions to the Seattle Harbor Code.

"These changes will undoubtedly save lives," said Plough. " I commend the Seattle Harbor Advisory Commission, the City Council, and Mayor Schell for their important work in supporting water safety."

Key provisions of the code revision that will apply to water safety include:

• Prohibition of swimming in the entirety of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. This includes the Montlake Cut, areas near Gasworks Park, the Fremont area, and at the Ballard Locks.
  
  
• Except in areas supervised by lifeguards, all swimmers more than 50 feet from shore are required to have a boat accompany them. The boat must have lifejackets for both the boat passengers and the swimmers in the water.
  
  
• Any device more than 50 feet from shore will be considered a "vessel" and will need to meet the same lifejacket requirements as boats. This includes air mattresses, rafts, inner tubes, and small boats. Under this requirement, all children under 12 must be wearing a US Coast Guard-approved lifejacket and those over 12 must have a lifejacket with them.

These changes to the Seattle Harbor Code were developed by the Seattle Harbor Advisory Commission, which was comprised of community members as well as representatives from Seattle Police, Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Seattle City Council, the Seattle-King County Drowning Prevention Coalition, and many others.

Tony Gomez, Chair of the Seattle-King County Drowning Prevention Coalition and Manager for Violence and Injury Prevention at Public Health - Seattle & King County, noted the importance of the new law: "We have been seeing one or two drowning-related deaths each year in the Ship Canal, mostly by youth. These terrible tragedies have been tough on the families, communities, and schools associated with these victims."

"Passage of this law is a great step forward in reducing these tragic occurrences," said Gomez. "As this legislation has been a goal of the Coalition for several years, we're very pleased to see it become a reality."

Founded by Gomez in 1991, the Seattle-King County Drowning Prevention Coalition consists of over 25 government agencies (including Public Health), businesses, hospitals, and non-profit organizations, all working toward the common goal of preventing drowning deaths and near-drowning trauma.