After several deaths on the lake this summer, the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) is urging everyone to be safe on the water this Labor Day weekend.

Police and businesses at Grand Lake are preparing for the influx of holiday visitors.

“It’s the calm before the storm here in South Grand Lake,” said Jerry Cookson of Cedar Port Marina in Disney, who knows how busy the lake can be on holiday weekends.

“Any weekend can be a holiday weekend for us,” Cookson said.

Cedar Port Marina stocks everything you need for a weekend on the water, including extra tubes, surfboards, and of course, clean boats.

Grand Lake, the third largest lake in Oklahoma, attracts thousands of visitors each summer. Cookson has noticed an increase in the number of new visitors to the lake.

“There are a lot of new people on the lake that we haven’t seen before. We’re seeing people coming here, recognizing the value of Grand Lake and moving here from out of state,” he said.

While holidays are good for business, they also mean more people on the water, which can raise safety concerns.

“It’s been a very difficult summer, unfortunately,” said Justin Alberty of the GRDA. “We’ve seen an unusually high number of fatalities on our waters this summer, and other lakes in the state have struggled with similar issues.”

The GRDA has had to respond to nine deaths on its waterways this year alone.

This weekend, officials hope visitors will take safety seriously and stress the importance of wearing life jackets.

“In several of these cases, a life jacket would have made a difference,” Alberty said.

According to GRDA, wearing a life jacket is the best way to stay safe on the lake this holiday weekend, and if you’re caught wearing one, you could even get a reward.

“We stop them and throw them a T-shirt to reward them for doing the right thing,” Alberty said.

The GRDA also recommends that boaters take a boating safety course.

“Be familiar with how the boat works, be aware of the other person, give them enough space, enough time to stop and enough room. Before you launch the boat and get into a bay, be aware of anyone who might be in the water,” Alberty said.

A safe weekend on the water means a successful holiday weekend for everyone.