What is essentially a private lake in Missouri accounts for the vast majority of the public law enforcement on all the state’s lakes. The State Water Patrol says Lake of the Ozarks had 17 accidents this past Fourth of July weekend and 36 boating-while-intoxicated arrests. There were 24 accidents and 47 arrests in all of Missouri combined this past weekend. And, a similar trend is seen when all the accidents from last year are taken into account. The Patrol’s Sergeant Ralph Bledsoe admits Lake of the Ozarks does create a lot of extra work for the Patrol. But Bledsoe says the extra work the state has to do on the water should not be reimbursed by the owner of the dam creating the lake. He says AmerenUE does not pay back the state for the extra law enforcement on the water, but the company does regulate the private docks from the shore.