[Evenstar]

Originally Posted by PROPELLER

Evenstar, did you read my post responding to your comparison of Quabbin & Wachusett resevoir? NO, it is not interesting that those large bodies of water are heavily restricted. Quabbin was manmade in the 1930's specically to provide drinking water to the greater Boston area. There was never any inten tion to use it for a wide range of recreational purposes. Thats true of most drinking water resevoirs that I am familiar with, they are heavily restricted not because of issues like we have at Winni but because they used for completely different purposes.

Yes, I did read your post. I was just trying to avoid an argument, but since you insist, here are some actual facts: Lake Mead and Lake Powell are the two largest man made reservoirs in the United States and they providing drinking water for the residents of Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Yet they are also used for recreational boating. Dillon Reservoir is also man made and is the largest water storage facility in the Denver Water system. It also allows recreational boating. Lake McConaughy is a manmade reservoir and the largest body of water in the state of Nebraska. And it also allows recreational boating. The list goes on and on. Modesto Reservoir, Loch Lomond Reservoir in CA, and Buffalo Bill Reservoir in WY are more examples.

In fact forty-five states permit recreational boating use on drinking water lakes, rivers and reservoirs. So, the fact is that most man made reservoirs actually do allow recreational boating. You just have to have a more expensive water treatment filtering system to use the water for drinking. And some states only permit boats using MTBE free fuel.

And NO, your right to use any part of Winni is not being taken away. You may choose not to exercise that right because YOU may not feel safe. That does not mean you are not safe, only that you perceive it is not safe. You already stated in your first post you did not feel safe on a lake that does have a speed limit, so what is to be done next?

Is it safe to paddle my kayak across a lake where boats travel back and forth at 75 mph and faster? And some of you on this forum have even admitted that you have trouble seeing kayaks. If you can’t see me until you get close to me, can you guarantee that you’ll be able to avoid me, when you are traveling at 110 feet per second? No you can’t. So this is not something that is just perceived as being unsafe. It is unsafe. And if I cannot safely use the main lake, my rights to kayaking on the main lake have been essentially taken away.