WAKE SURFING - Top articles on environmental/safety issues
St Anthony Falls Study
This Feb 2022 study by the U of Minnesota St. Anthony Falls Lab compareS the height, energy, and power of wakes from 4 boats (2 wake surf boats, 2 non-surf boats used for wakeboarding). It found that wake surf wakes required over 600 ft to attenuate to power levels equivalent to non-surf boats in planing conditions at 200 ft. Future research will study environmental impacts. Study was crowdfunded and peer reviewed. Press release regarding the study
Michigan DNR Study
“Wake boats: Concerns and Recommendations Related to Natural Resource Management in Michigan Waters”, Sept 2022 Report of Michigan DNR. Excellent study, recommending wake surfing be done no less than 500 feet from shore or docks and in no less than 15 feet water depth and that ballast tanks must be wholly drained.
Boat Wake Impact Analysis— 2021 study of wake surfing impacts on two lakes in Georgia, prepared by an engineering firm. Its principal focus is safety. It includes an evaluation of the reliability of the wake surf industry’s principal study, the “2015 Goudy Study”
Wake Surfing and Habitat Loss on Mid Lake This is a presentation by Mr. John Johnson, resident of Mid Lake, regarding the effects of wake surfing on Mid Lake, Oneida County Wisconsin
The 2021 Kezar Lake, Maine Study titled “2021 Boat Wakes and the Consequences of Slow Speed Powerboat Activities” --This study focuses on wake surfing and its shoreline and lake bottom impacts. It concludes that wake surfing should occur no less than 500 feet from shore, and no less than 20-foot water depth. Good slide re impact of wake surf wakes on loon nests, at p 15.
A Phased Study of the Water Quality and Wave Propagation Dynamics Currently Impacting a Small Southeast Wisconsin Freshwater Lake: Waukesha Terra Vigilis Group. See pp 16-37 of the linked presentation, where this study is embedded. This study concludes through field measurements that wake surf boats produce prop wash generating “significant bottom effects” more than 20’ below the water surface. It also shows that water column phosphorus levels increased 25% after just two surf boat passes.
Analyzing Threats to Water Quality from Motorized Recreation on Payette Lake, Idaho This 2020 study, including field data and computer modeling, addresses impacts of surf boats in sensitive lakes. It recommends that wake surfing not occur closer than 500’ from shore. It shows that for boats with downwardly angled propellors, sediments are disturbed and phosphorus resuspended at depths up to 33 feet below the surface.
Petition to Vermont Agency of Natural Resources to Amend the Vermont Use of Public Waters Statute to regulate wake surfing This is a detailed report, seeking changes in Vermont law to require that wake surfing be limited to areas 1000 feet from shore and in minimum 20 foot water depth
Presque Isle (WI) Condition Report This is the 2020 “Condition Report” submitted to the Wisconsin DNR, accompanying the proposed “Hazardous Wake Ordinance” for Presque Isle, Wisconsin. IT recommends that hazardous wakes not be generated on lakes in Presque Isle
The Effects of Motorized Watercraft on Aquatic Ecosystems - Timothy Asplund, Wisconsin DNR. This is a 2000 study addressing the impact of power motorsports on lakes in Wisconsin. It does not address wake surfing
Laval (Quebec) University Study (2015) -- A useful study of distance from shore and prop wash effects of surf boats, among other points. See the conclusion at p29 that wake surfing disturbs sediment up to 16’ below the surface, increasing various forms of phosphorus into the water column, potentially inducing cyanobacteria blooms and accelerating eutrophication of the lake. At p 30, the study recommends a distance of at least 300 m (about 980 feet) from shore.