Big Wakes, what to do?

[Bear Islander]

Originally Posted by Nauset

You missed one option and the point! I would use it, and enjoy it, and not try to infringe on other people's enjoyment with an excuse of protecting the environment or public safety.

Suppose after using it for a few years you become convinced that public safety and pollution are a problem. You read the water quality reports and you are concerned about the dropping quality of your drinking water. You have had a few close calls on the lake and decide something must be done about congestion. So now you speak out for a speed or horsepower limit, and you are told, over and over, that you are lying about your real reason for that support. And people are mistakenly saying that all you REALLY want is to keep others from enjoying the lake. Would you think that was fair? Would you dislike being called a liar?

[jrc]

Originally Posted by Bear Islander

Suppose after using it for a few years you become convinced that public safety and pollution are a problem. You read the water quality reports and you are concerned about the dropping quality of your drinking water. You have had a few close calls on the lake and decide something must be done about congestion. So now you speak out for a speed or horsepower limit, and you are told, over and over, that you are lying about your real reason for that support, and all you REALLY want is to keep others from enjoying the lake. Would you think that was fair? Would you dislike being called a liar?

Well liar is a strong word but right in this post you say that you're really concerned about dropping water quality and congestion. Yet you lobby hard on this board for laws like a speed and HP limit. These will at best tangentally, improve these things. Why not lobby for a direct solution? A ban on out-of date septics systems, stronger bans on lawn and fertilizers and a numerical limit to the number of power boats on the lake would directly address your concerns. If your concerned about wakes, why not a weight limit instead of a HP limit or better yet a ban on making big wakes.

It's all the indirection that bothers me.

[Bear Islander]

Originally Posted by jrc

Well liar is a strong word but right in this post you say that you're really concerned about dropping water quality and congestion. Yet you lobby hard on this board for laws like a speed and HP limit. These will at best tangentally, improve these things. Why not lobby for a direct solution? A ban on out-of date septics systems, stronger bans on lawn and fertilizers and a numerical limit to the number of power boats on the lake would directly address your concerns. If your concerned about wakes, why not a weight limit instead of a HP limit or better yet a ban on making big wakes.

It's all the indirection that bothers me.

Tangential is better than nothing.

A stronger septic law like the "Title 5" in Massachusetts is a great idea. I believe fertilizer near the lake is already banned by the Shoreland act. A numeric limit is OK, what would be the details? Who gets to be one of the few? A weight limit instead of horsepower limit is fine by me, adds up to about the same thing.

Be prepared, there will be a lot of resistance to all those ideas.

[hazelnut]

Originally Posted by jrc

Well liar is a strong word but right in this post you say that you're really concerned about dropping water quality and congestion. Yet you lobby hard on this board for laws like a speed and HP limit. These will at best tangentally, improve these things. Why not lobby for a direct solution? A ban on out-of date septics systems, stronger bans on lawn and fertilizers and a numerical limit to the number of power boats on the lake would directly address your concerns. If your concerned about wakes, why not a weight limit instead of a HP limit or better yet a ban on making big wakes.

It's all the indirection that bothers me.

GREAT POST!!!!! SO WELL SAID! I believe this surmises my feelings extremely succinctly. Thank you jrc!!!!!