City of Columbus launches comprehensive water safety campaign for Water Safety Month

COLUMBUS, Ind. - The City of Columbus has announced a coordinated water safety campaign to educate residents about local waterway hazards, promote safe practices, and strengthen community awareness throughout Water Safety Month in May.

Recent incidents have underscored the need for year‑round public safety education about rivers, streams, lakes, pools, and other bodies of water in Columbus and around Bartholomew County.   

This was highlighted and reinforced in a recent opinion piece by Columbus Mayor Mary Ferdon.   

Here are the key campaign actions: 

• Debut of a dedicated water safety webpage on the Columbus Parks and Rec website featuring infographics, safety literature, and links to helpful resources such as the American Red Cross water safety curriculum, "Safe Kids Worldwide" presented by Pool Safely, and others, such as the YMCA and the USDA Forest Service 
• Release of water safety videos across city websites and social media platforms
• Water safety promotion during the opening of Donner Pool in partnership with Columbus Parks and Recreation

This initiative is a combined effort of the City Administration, Columbus Parks and Recreation, Columbus Police Department, and Columbus Fire Department. Water safety materials will be incorporated into DARE programming, the CPD Youth Academy, and public events such as Touch‑A‑Truck and Public Safety Day.   

The campaign encourages residents to:     

• Use lifejackets around all natural bodies of water, and for children and weak swimmers around pools
• Enroll children in swim lessons
• Complete the free American Red Cross Water Safety Ambassador online course
• Learn proper lifejacket fitting through upcoming instructional videos and infographics

For more information, visit the new Columbus Water Safety Webpage.