PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — On Wednesday, employees with the Department of State Lands issued trespass notices to boaters who aren’t authorized to live-aboard on the Willamette River.

Officials say the highest concentration of transient boaters is between the I-5 and Sellwood Bridges. There are about 10 boaters, some with more than one boat, according to the state.

“A lot of these boaters have been here for a long time, as we all know,” says Lori Warner-Dickason with the state. “Some choose this as a lifestyle, some actually this is the only option they have for housing which makes this a very sensitive issue.”

The trespass notice comes with options. People have 21 days to move to a marina, move at least 5 miles from their current location, surrender their boats, or request a hearing. If none of the options are chosen, the state will seize the boat under the derelict and abandoned vessel statute.

“Our goal here is to manage the waterway, to protect the public trust uses,” Warner-Dickason says.

She says there has been an increase in people living on board boats in the Willamette, a state owned waterway. With that has come an increase in citizen complaints. The state says many of the boats don’t have sanitation and the living conditions are unsafe. Some end up sinking.

Denny Lish details boats and yachts at Riverplace Marina and says the problem is nothing new.

“I see it all the time,” he says. “It’s getting out of control. For one, you’ve got noise all the time. Where do they take their boat to dump their sewage?”

Lish claims he’s even seen people break into the boats moored at the marina to sleep overnight.

According to the state, 22 boats were removed from the Willamette in 2015 and cost the state $53,000. During that time, Multnomah County Deputies conducted outreach programs to connect the boaters with proper housing.