EDITORIAL: Rules needed for boats that ‘rule the water’

The majesty of Lake Michigan is often manifested in the great whitecapped waves that rival the size and power of ocean seas. This is a stirring sight to behold from shore but at the same time a challenge that can be uncomfortable, daunting or even dangerous for those who venture offshore. 

The charm of the many inland lakes with which Wisconsin is blessed is that their waters, encircled by land, are usually calm. Why then are some of the fishermen, kayakers, swimmers and others seeking to enjoy these placid lakes encountering Lake Michigan-size waves?

Don’t blame Mother Nature. These are man-made waves, the products of the wake boats that are surging in popularity as their waves surge over once tranquil waters.

Wake boats, heavy 20 to 24-foot vessels with powerful inboard engines, are designed expressly for the purpose of making waves so people can ride them on wakeboards.

“Rule the Water!” was the headline on an ad meant to lure buyers for one brand of wake boats. Wake boats rule the water by creating

waves as high as three feet and in the process making boating difficult or unsafe for others while disturbing aquatic habitat and damaging shoreline property.

It is safe to say that no boat type seen in this state is more controversial or the subject of more complaints, yet state law offers no help to the citizens whose enjoyment of Wisconsin lakes is affected by wake boats. Two bills regulating them have been introduced in the Legislature, but neither garnered enough support to come to a vote. The Natural Resources Board has discussed the issue but made no recommendation.

This in spite of the fact that a coalition of 76 organizations, including the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, Wisconsin Association of Lakes and fishing organizations, are advocating for regulating wake boat use.

More than 40 municipalities have taken the matter into their own hands by enacting local laws. The City of Mequon and the Village Thiensville each have ordinances that restrict boats making waves on their stretches of the Milwaukee River.

On Big Cedar Lake near West Bend, where wake boat controversy is a perennial issue, an ordinance that prohibits boats from making waves within 200 feet of shore offers property some protection, but does not address conflict with other users of the long, narrow lake.   

Wisconsin’s inland lakes and rivers and its Lake Michigan waters are such wondrous resources that the governing philosophy of the state’s Natural Resources Board has always been to make them as widely accessible to the public as possible. This is proper, and in practice it has been successful.

On many lakes, fishing boats, canoes, paddle boards, sailboats, sailboards, kayaks, pontoon boats and runabouts co-exist with swimmers and traditional water skiers in usually friendly fashion. Even personal watercraft, when they’re operated responsibly, get along in the nautical mix. But wake boats operating in full wave-making mode can interfere with all of those water recreation activities. 

It could be said that by making parts of some lakes untenable for other craft, wake boats limit water access. 

To generate waves, wake boats take on as much as 3,000 pounds in ballast water. They sit low in the water, and their large-diameter, heavily pitched  propellers create a prop wash that can disturb bottom vegetation and fish habitat more than 20 feet down. Filling and emptying ballast tanks with hundreds of gallons of water poses a risk of spreading invasive species. 

Wake boating is a robust element of the water recreation economy; the complexly engineered boats are expensive toys with six-figure price tags. This may account for the hesitancy of lawmakers who are sensitive to business lobbying to restrict them. 

There’s a good reason for the sport’s popularity—wakesurfing and wakeboarding are great fun for casual participants and a stimulating challenge for polished board-riding athletes, not to mention a prime opportunity to show off with some entertaining wake-jumping tricks.

There are suitable places for this boating enjoyment, but the Legislature should end the confusion about where those places are by adopting some rules for the DNR to enforce.

The Wake Boat Reform Coalition of those 76 organizations recommends that those places be 700 feet from shore, 500 feet from other boats and in water that is at least 30 feet deep. That looks like a good model for state wake boat regulations.