Through the first part of July, drownings across Minnesota are down to the lowest level in years.
The state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) tallied 12 non-boating drownings across the state as of July 14 this year. Those include all water deaths, including pools, lakes and rivers.
That's down from 15 drownings at this time last year. Since 2010, the previous low at this time of summer was 14. The previous high in recent years came in 2012 with 30 drownings. In 2015, there were 22 drownings as of July 14.
For all of last year, there were 40 non-boating drownings. In 2017, there were 31.
Across other categories, there's not a huge variance in DNR water accidents as of July 14, although both boating fatalities and nonfatal boating accidents are also on the lower end. There have been six boating fatalities as of July 14 compared to nine in each of the previous three years. In 2010, there was only one at this stage.
As of the same date, there have been 35 nonfatal boating accidents compared to 41 at this time last year.
Of this year's drownings so far, all but four were in lakes and rivers.
In March, a Minneapolis woman drowned in a residential hot tub in Washington County one morning after being in the tub the night before with friends. Also that month, a 92-year-old man drowned in Blue Earth County in a private drainage ditch when water came rushing after he chipped away ice in a culvert.
