A 62-year-old Fort Worth man was recovered from Benbrook Lake on July 13 after witnesses said he went underwater in the designated swimming area near Mustang Park and did not resurface, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
The recovery provides a timely reason to review local drowning data and the rules intended to reduce risk on Texas waters. DFW Daily Brief previously reported what was known during the search near Mustang Park.
What Tarrant County’s records show
County records show 197 fatal drownings among Tarrant County residents from 2019 through 2024. Tarrant County Public Health found no statistically significant change in drowning mortality rates among the locations it compared, so the available data do not support a claim that the regional rate recently increased.
The county’s drowning data brief also reports 30 fatal child drownings from 2021 through 2025. During the same period, Cook Children’s Health Care System in Fort Worth treated 367 nonfatal and 37 fatal drownings.
Public health officials identify several risk factors: inability to swim, not wearing a life jacket, inadequate adult supervision, alcohol or drug use, characteristics of the water source and missing barriers.
Texas life-jacket and paddling rules
Texas law requires one U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket for every person aboard a vessel. Children younger than 13 must wear one while the vessel is underway.
Paddlers also must carry a sound-producing device, along with a life jacket for each person. TPWD recommends wearing the jacket rather than merely carrying it, staying sober, checking weather and water conditions and taking a boater-education course.
The agency’s 2025 boating data recorded 178 incidents, 50 deaths and 77 injuries requiring more than first aid. Drowning accounted for 70% of the deaths, and 84% of the victims were not wearing life jackets. Those figures exclude open-water drownings.
