KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is urging swimmers and boaters to be careful after a spate of drowning deaths.

So far this year, there have been seven water-related fatalities at the district’s Kansas lakes — the most in these lakes in more than 20 years.

The corps says alcohol was a contributing factor in five of the seven drownings.

Those deaths are among 74 in the past nine years in the 18 lakes the corps manages in its Kansas City district, which includes parts of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. The corps urged boaters to wear life jackets, noting that only one of the 74 victims was wearing a life jacket.