WANSHIP, Utah -- Utah State Parks officials are cracking down on safety on the water this summer.

The agency uses 70 patrol boats for rescues, helping with disabled vessels and to enforce the law for the more than 73,000 registered boats in the state.

This year, there have already been eight boating- or rafting-related fatalities in the state, versus four in 2008.

Dave Harris, boating program manager for Utah State Parks, was at Rockport Reservoir in Summit County over the holiday weekend. He says a recent patrol program at Lake Powell called Operation Dry Water found an average of 1.5 violations per boat among 120 that were visited.

Rockport State Park Manager Joseph Donnell says officials would rather educate boaters than write tickets.