County sheriff plans for a no wake for the Rock River over July 4th

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana warned about the dangers of ignoring the no wake order over July 4th.

“The arrests [are] a problem, but killing or hurting somebody is a bigger problem,” said Caruana. “I want everybody to have a good time during the 4th of July weekend. And it’s fun. It’s summer. It’s the middle of summer.”

If the order is not followed it can be dangerous for those causing the wake and others nearby. With recent weather, it does not seem like the no wake will be lifted by the holiday.

“Well, right now we’re hovering at eight, which [means] there’s no way kind of to leave that on because it looks like projecting it’s going to go over eight this weekend,” said Caruana. “And then all the rain that we got last night, this morning.”

This does not mean the river is closed though, Caruana still encouraged boaters to enjoy the river.

“So we want everybody to go out. We want to enjoy the river, but respect the no wake,” said Caruana. “Now I’m going to have deputies out there, okay. I’m going to have two boats out there and we are going to enforce that. No way, because it’s just right to enforce that.”

The no wake is especially important for those living on the river or with businesses along it.

“Here’s people that have, you know, Boat docks, there’s wildlife, there’s all kind of erosion on the on the shorelines that erodes their properties. We want to be courteous because they are on the river. That’s the residents and it is affecting them. So that’s why there’s no way,” said Caruana. “No, I get it. It’s 4th of July weekend and we want everybody to have fun but respect the no wake area.”

The boating rules and procedures should always be followed especially during bad conditions.

“Make sure you have enough life jackets. You have the horn to whistle on the boat and make sure that you are courteous. Let’s be courteous to one another,” said Caruana.

The sheriff wants to warn people that some of the docks are underwater, which may pose difficulties to those launching off.

To stay up to date with no wake announcements visit the sheriff’s office’s Facebook .

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