Boating Enforcement Safety Team (BEST)

Mission:
The Imperial County Sheriff’s Office Boating Enforcement Safety Team (B.E.S.T.) is committed to enhancing the safety and security of the residents and visitors to Imperial County’s Waterways/ Recreational Area.

B.E.S.T. is dedicated to providing a safe and enjoyable boating environment and ensuring that a quality experience remains available for future generations.

 

• BEST provides law enforcement services to all waterways within the County of Imperial:
  Salton City 525 Square Miles
  Bard Lake 5 Square Miles
  Sentators Wash 8 Square Miles
  Ferguson Lake 5 Square Miles
  Sunbeam Lake 3 Square Miles
  Ramer Lake 8 Square Miles
  Oxbow Lake 4 Square Miles
  Pretty Water Lake 4 Square Miles
  Clear Lake 5 Square Miles
  Finney Lake 6 Square Miles
  Wiest Lake 4 Square Miles
  Little Squaw Lake 3 Square Miles
  Taylor Lake 4 Square Miles
  Colorado River 83 Square Miles
  Palo Verde Outfall 8 Square Miles
   
• BEST is funded through California Boating and Waterways grants and Vessel Tax.
• BEST team consists of 1 Lieutenant, 1 Sergeant, 2 Deputies, 1 Ranger, 1 Office Assistant III (1 Unfilled Dep. Position)
  
  
  
   

This page courtesy of DeAnza Rescue, a volunteer group with the Sheriff's Office

PLANNING A DESERT TRIP

The most elaborately planned desert trip may result in your being placed in a survival situation.  If you are planning a trip into the desert during the months when extreme temperatures can occur, this is usually June through September, July and August become the hottest, consider if the trip is really necessary.

 

Before You Go

1. Plan your trip carefully. Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to return. Stay with your planned itinerary. Should you have trouble and need assistance, you will be much easier to locate. A call for assistance should not be delayed if you do not arrive home at the time you specified. 

2. Carry plenty of water, preferably good tasting, cool (iced in a cool can) water - five gallons per person per twenty-four hours (31/2 gallons for drinking, 11/2 gallons for emergencies). It is better to carry some water out than to run short.

3. Make sure your vehicle is in good running order and carry necessary equipment, spare parts, and know how to keep your vehicle operating properly.

Desert Survival

If you don't have it with you, don't expect to find it in the desert. Carry everything you will need to survive until help arrives should you become lost or stranded.

The primary survival items are:

1. Five (5) 5 gallons of water per day per person

2. Signaling devices such as metal match and steel wool (fire starting), signal mirror, signal flares (road flares) and flare gun.

3. Food

4. Clothing; long trousers, long sleeved shirt, hat and shoes.

 

 Should You Become Lost or Stranded

 1. It is generally better to stay with your vehicle. In virtually all searches, the victim's abandoned vehicle is found long before they are.

2. Conserve sweat, not your water. (See article on dehydration)

3. Signaling: Your chances of being found can largely depend upon making your location known to the searchers through the use of signaling devices. This could be smoke signals, aerial or road flares, flashes from a signal mirror or distress signals laid on the ground are also effective.

 

Special Note to Hikers and Bikers

 In as much as you are unable to carry a sufficient amount of water to sustain you in a survival situation, you should have a positive back-up plan with water or limiting the range of your activity. Remember, in the early stages of dehydration mental impairment can occur, often causing disorientation, making survival virtually impossible. It has been shown that a 154 lb. person carrying a 20 lb. pack and walking in the sun at 100 degrees would require 1.3 quarts of water per hour to replace that which is lost due to sweating.

 

 Staying Cool

 The only method the human body has to stay cool when the temperature is above 90 degrees is by means of sweating. Sweating takes water from the body which must immediately be replaced or physical and mental impairment will result. This loss of body water is call dehydration.

 The dangers of dehydration are two fold. First dehydration decreases a person's ability to withstand the effects of high temperature. As dehydration progresses, there is increased heat discomfort and decreased ability to perform normal physical activities. When the water loss equals 6 to 10 percent of normal body weight physical collapse and death may occur.

 Equally important is the effect of dehydration on a person's mental capacity. Even at levels of dehydration in which there is little physical impairment, a person's ability to think clearly and make rational decisions can be affected. Some of the mental effects of dehydration include irritability, depression, confusion and disorientation. This can cause even the most knowledgeable and best prepared person to make mistakes, which can be fatal in the harsh summer desert.

   

Preventing Dehydration

 The only way to keep from becoming dehydrated is to drink a sufficient amount of water. Your water should be cool, good tasting and convenient, so you will be inclined to drink often. Other beverages and foods containing water can be consumed or eaten in a survival situation, but drinking just plain water is the best defense against dehydration. Liquids containing caffeine and alcohol are not recommended as they are diuretics and will increase water loss in urine. Don't rely on thirst to determine how much to drink. In hot weather thirst does not keep pace with the body's need for water, so you should drink a lot more than you feel like drinking. Even if you find yourself in a survival situation do not try to conserve water. It is the water in your body that prevents dehydration, not the water in your canteen.

 

 How Much Water?

 It is difficult to predict how much water you will need to drink to prevent dehydration. Many factors effect water requirement, among these the most important are temperature, physical activity, body size, and clothing. In actual situations water consumption of more than three gallons per day for one person has often been observed. Therefore, it is recommended that at least five gallons of water per person be carried for each day you plan to spend in the desert. This will give an adequate supply of drinking water with a small reserve for emergency use.

 NOTE: There is other literature available that expands more on desert survival. However, the water requirements and time elements in this article more closely fit the facts we have encountered in our many years of desert search and rescue than those quoted in other survival manuals.

De Anza Rescue Unit, Inc.
Post Office Box 1599
El Centro , Ca 92244

 

All vehicles must be registered:  
Green Sticker, Red Sticker, or license plate clearly displayed at all times. [CVC 38020, 4000(a), 38170(b)]

  Click the picture for OHV Registrations Sticker Placement directions

Identification Certificate:
Carry (original or facsimile copy) with vehicle at all times when 
vehicle is operated or transported. [CVC 38085(a)]

 

Alcohol and Open Containers: 
Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is prohibited. 
Driver or passenger in possession of an open alcoholic beverage 
container in a vehicle is prohibited.  Laws that apply on the highway 
also apply off the highway.  [ CVC 23152 , 23222 ]

 

Don’t drink and drive.

 

Firearms: 
Loaded firearms are prohibited on all Federal, State, and County lands. [PC 12031(a) (1)]

Discharge or Shooting of a firearm within 50 yards of any roadway is prohibited.  [ICORD 51400]

 

Fireworks: 
The use or possession of fireworks, including ‘safe and sane’ is prohibited on all public lands. [ICORD 53200]   

 

Fires and Burning:  
No burning of any petroleum products, magnesium, or any other hazardous or explosive materials.  [H&S 41800]  

 

Canals: 
No Swimming or trespassing in any canal, lateral, ditch, or siphon. [ICORD 32200]

Imperial Irrigation District Water Safety Page

 

Passengers in Truck Bed: 
Unsecured person(s) in a truck bed is prohibited on or off the highway. [ CVC 23116 , 38301 ]