The Vermont Agency of of Natural Resources (ANR) just sent to the Secretary of State its official notice of a rule to regulate wake sports on Vermont lakes and ponds. This is an important milestone for Vermont, and for the progress of our efforts to keep our lakes healthy and safe. RWVL thanks and congratulates the staff of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) who have shepherded this rule along its way.
According to the the official filing,
the rule will regulate “wakesports” involving a “wakeboat” on certain lakes and ponds in Vermont. The rule would prohibit such wakesports on lakes, ponds, and reservoirs that do not have a minimum of 50 contiguous acres that are both 500 feet from shore on all sides and a minimum of 20 feet deep.
As you know, this is not the 1000 feet from shore we asked for, but nonetheless this filing represents a watershed in the progress of regulating these boats. What’s most interesting in the filing is the extent of documentation and rationale for the rule. Read the filing for yourself, and you’ll agree with the members of the Interagency Committee on Administrative Rules (ICAR) that they’ve never seen a proposed rule as well-prepared as this one. You can help with our next step: to support the rule through its upcoming hearings, and to convince DEC to make it stronger.
The 20-page filing forms a rich and convincing essay on why wakeboats need to be restricted to only the deepest part of our largest lakes. Here are some interesting excerpts:
Wakeboats produce wakes that are significantly larger than conventional boats and are not a "normal use" of public waters as defined in the rules. These larger waves lead to increased shoreline erosion and disturbance of lake-bottom sediments and aquatic habitat, especially on smaller and shallower lakes and ponds where there is not space for the wave energy, height, and power to disseminate. Larger waves from wakeboats have also created safety issues for other water users, such as capsizing smaller vessels, and have the potential to damage shoreline infrastructure. Wakeboats also contain ballast tanks that cannot be fully drained, and would therefore violate statute (10 V.S.A. § 1454(d)(1)(A)) and can also transport aquatic invasive species from one waterbody to another, without thorough decontamination. Currently, wakesports represent a use of Vermont's public waters that is in conflict with other uses which requires regulation to resolve.
Such strong language in an official state document is heartening to us who have worked so hard on this project. We’ve seen no other state take this kind of clear environmental leadership.
The economic benefits of regulation outweigh the costs by ten to one. The annual benefits — estimated at $93 million — include the preservation of water quality, the continuation of affordable small-scale recreational activities that form the core of Vermont’s water-based recreation, and the protection of the tourist economy that depends on clean and safe lakes. The potential annual costs — about $8 million — are based on limitations that this rule would place on the growth of the wakeboat industry. Wakesurfing close to shore discourages the thousands of swimmers, paddlers, sailors, anglers, non-wakeboat water skiers and boarders, and other small-craft users who form the foundation of Vermont’s lake-based economic activity. Moreover, even a few wakesurfers close to shore cause costly environmental damage, while contributing little to the state’s economy.
As you can see, the DEC filing goes far beyond the strictly environmental damages caused by wakesports — it delves into their economic impact as well.
In conclusion, the economic benefits of adopting the rule outweigh the costs by ten to one. The rule will preserve the low-impact, affordable, waterbased recreational activity and tourism that has been a key factor in Vermont’s economic growth. Failure to adopt the rule will lead to a degradation of lake water quality and safety that will suppress this economic growth and require substantial expense to repair.
And they explain the recreational and public safety benefits of regulating wakeboats:
By limiting wakesports to larger lakes and ponds, there is adequate space for individuals using smaller vessels or swimmers to keep sufficient distance between themselves and wakeboats conducting wakesports so that the larger wakes do not disturb their vessels or make swimming difficult or unsafe
RWVL agrees with the gist of the filing, but we believe that the 500-foot offset that DEC proposes results in too few lakes gaining protection.
What can you do to strengthen and support this rule?
The filing of the rule is not the last step. It must still run the gauntlet of public hearings, scheduled for August 1 in Montpelier, and August 3 online. And you can be sure that some will oppose it: wake boat owners and manufacturers. (The latter have already spent $15,000 this year lobbying against it in Montpelier.) We need you to help us show the extent of public support for a strong rule.
- Come to the rally and public hearing in Montpelier on August 1.
- Participate in the virtual public hearing on August 3.
- Get your lake association to endorse the 1000-foot standoff.
- Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper in support of the stronger rule.
- File a comment in support of the rule with a 1000-foot offset. With Wake Boats in the subject line, send your comment to anr.wsmdlakes@vermont.gov