As temperatures rise, more and more boaters are hitting area waterways.
With changes to enforcement on the lakes, some groups are reporting crime on the water is on the rise as well.
TVA no longer does uniformed patrols on all parts of their reservoirs. The Campbell County Sheriff's Department believe that may be contributing to increased thefts.
"We are currently aware of some incidents where property crimes on the lake specifically, have abnormally increased due to the absence of TVA Police patrols," Chief Deputy Aaron Evans said in a statement.
Officials with the Friends of Norris Lake say they are seeing that as well.
"There's fewer officers on the lake and we've noticed an increase in crime around the lake," said the group's president, Mike McDonough.
He says members in the Twin Cove and Deerfield areas have been hit hard by thieves approaching by water.
"They're after outboard motors that they can remove, depth finding equipment, fishing gear, wake boards, skis, life rafts. These are all things that can be taken to pawn shops and turned into cash," McDonough said.
TVA concentrates on safety around their facilities.
"What we've decided to do with uniformed patrols whether on the water or our boater patrols is to really focus more on protecting our critical assets, the dams and generating facilities," said spokesperson Travis Brickey.
On Norris Lake, patrols historically focused around the dam in Anderson County, Brickey said. Officers would typically only go to Campbell County if there were calls from people in the area.
"We're still there, it's just more of an investigator role," Brickey said.
"We do however understand that everyone's resources have become limited, including TVA, TWRA and ours," Evans said.
The department has a boat that they are willing to use to patrol when available.
In the meantime McDonough recognizes times are tough and there are no easy solutions.
"Unfortunately the answer is probably people paying higher taxes to get more protection or taking action on their own and buying security systems for their boat docks," he said.
The Norris Lake Coast Guard Flotilla, a citizen component of the US Coast Guard, plans to meet with the Sheriff's Department later this month to try to establish a plan for increased patrols.