Wisconsin DNR chastised for not taking action on wake boats

Madison — Three citizens told the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that the agency simply isn’t doing enough to clamp down on the problem generated by wake boats.

Their testimony to the Natural Resources Board on May 2 highlighted their belief the DNR is taking no action on this issue even though the potential for wake boats to cause damage to lake ecosystems is very apparent – and has been demonstrated more than once.

In response, the board said it would ask the DNR for an informational briefing at its June meeting.

Jeff Meessmann, of Presque Isle, has been working on the issue of wake boats for the last four years, helping towns and lake associations with ideas on how they can regulate wake boating. He is concerned with the lack of progress in Wisconsin to regulate ballast systems in wake boats that have the potential to spread invasive species.

“Wake boats use ballast systems to add weight to the boat and increase the displacement (of water) that increases the size of the wake,” Meessmann said.

Boat operators use pumps to draw in lake water to fill their ballast tanks, but those tanks cannot be completely drained. The residual water is then carried to the next lake, swishes in and out during the filling and draining process, and increases the potential of transferring invasive species from lake to lake.

Ballast water from ocean ships was responsible for introducing invasive species into the Great Lakes, he said, and now to Wisconsin lakes.

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Owner’s manuals produced by wake boat manufacturers state that some ballast water must always remain in the boat, which Meessmann said is a violation of the DNR’s NR-19 rule that requires all water to be drained from ballast tanks.

Manufacturer instructions also say that ballast systems must be flushed with 120-degree water to kill invasive mussels, but Wisconsin boat launches are not equipped with water flushing equipment that runs that hot.

“The NRB has the authority to enact a rule by emergency order that will protect our lakes,” Meessmann said. “You’ve elected to do nothing.”

Richard Phillips, of Presque Isle, echoed, “I truly wish the DNR would say something about its view of wake surfing, and its impact on the lake and its impact on the 96% of people who use lakes and do not wake surf,” Phillips said.

Phillips told the board that 53 Wisconsin towns, with Mequon and Thiensville the first, have finally established ordinances regulating wake surfing on their lakes because the state has not taken action.

He said this was 13% of all lakes over 50 acres in size in the state, which are too small, shallow or crowded for wake surfing.

“This is happening because most of us are pessimistic that the state legislature will provide meaningful protection,” Phillips said, adding that the wake boat industry is lobbying legislators and sinking any chance of a meaningful regulatory bill from being introduced.

Phillips said, “The president of the Wisconsin State Senate (Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk) conducted a listening session where she stated the DNR advised her that depth restrictions on wake surfing could not be enforced and should not be established.”

Phillips said the public is pessimistic because the DNR has taken no position on this issue, despite the fact that three other states (Michigan, Vermont, and Maine) have taken meaningful actions.

Phillips said nobody seeks an outright ban, but there are thousands of citizens who support significant restrictions statewide that will still leave hundreds of larger lakes open to wake boats.

With no state action, Phillips said citizen groups need to advocate for restrictions, realizing the industry and wake boat owners will sue.

A new legal suit was recently filed in the town of Scott in Burnett County involving restrictions on wake boats on Birch Island Lake, a lake that Phillips said the DNR shows the average depth is only six feet.

Jim Olson, a retired attorney in Madison, echoed the concern that Felzkowski stated that the DNR was opposed to any depth requirement for wake surfing.

“I found this very disturbing for several reasons,” Olson said. “It contradicts the science, as studies have shown the prop wash from wake boats extends at least 26 feet below the surface.”

Olson said that he had filed an open records request to see if this was a DNR policy and learned that it is not DNR policy.

Olson read from information he said was from Supra Boats, a wake boat manufacturer, that acknowledged that wake boats churn up sand in shallow areas that has a harmful effect on vegetation. Olson clarified this does not apply to water skiing boats that have prop wash of about six feet deep.

Board member Robin Schmidt said that it was time to get an update from the DNR about challenges law enforcement has with wake boats, and other board members agreed.

Bill Smith, NRB chair, said he would like to see an informational item at the June NRB meeting to keep the public up-to-date on the situation.