In lieu of the drowning death of 23 year old Xavier Joseph Harden on Sunday, many questions surrounding water safety, and specifically lifeguards at the lake are surfacing.

Milford Lake, the largest in Kansas, is not policed by lifeguards – a practice common in many lakes/reservoirs; instead, lake goers are urged to utilize water safety practices and wear life vests.

Jesse Gehrt, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Geary and Wabaunsee County Game Warden, said that it’s not feasible to staff lifeguards on the lake.

“As big as that lake is at Milford, there’s just too much area to cover; some of the beach areas, they do have a concentration of people and [lifeguards] might work there, but then you’ve got to come up with staffing and you’re dealing with weather and what not,” said Gehrt. “I don’t really think that it’s going to be too feasible…in reality, it’s just too big of a setting to have something like that.”

Bill Whitworth, Corps of Engineers at Milford Lake, echoed similar sentiments.

“It’s an issue of practicality – people can swim anywhere in the lake, drownings can occur anywhere in the lake,” said Whitworth. “We offer access to recreation, but we don’t really play an active role in recreation itself; so hiring lifeguards may seem like a good idea, but it’s not practical…we rely on people to kind of monitor themselves and we encourage life vests at all times.”

Gehrt said that life vests can be purchased from Walmart, or similar stores for as little as $10; officials at the lake do not provide life jacket rentals.

“The biggest thing that people can take away from the incident we had yesterday is if you’re going to be in or on or around any type of boat, or tube or craft or anything – life jacket wear is just very imperative,” said Gehrt. “Most of these drownings that you see across the state, we actually had three over the weekend in Northeast Kansas, more than likely if the person was either wearing or right next to a life jacket then a life would have been saved.”

Harden, the victim in the drowning at Milford Lake, was a soldier stationed at Fort Riley. An autopsy has been scheduled; the incident is still under investigation.

The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism offered these water safety tips; they are more boater specific, but can be applied to anyone visiting a lake this Summer:

• Wear a life jacket.
• Designate a “water watcher”.
• Learn CPR.
• Learn how to safely help someone in distress.
• Adhere to a no drinking policy while boating.
• Allow only those who have completed boater education to operate the vessel.
• Know the rules of the water.
• Educate yourself and your children about swimming safely.
• Keep warm.
• Make sure your boat has all the required equipment and is thoroughly tested before hitting the water.