Our Lake Ecosystems are at Risk
1,543 of Wisconsin lakes, rivers and waterbodies are on the DNRs Impaired Waters list. This because they exceed the EPAs levels for toxic pollutants in our lakes and rivers. These pollutants reside in the lake bottom sediment from years of poor practices, buried in the past. But now with wake enhanced boating these sediments are stirred up and resuspended in the water table.
Wake boats stir up the bottom sediment, it isn’t even in dispute. A 2015 industry study conducted by the Water Sport Industry Association titled “Characterization of Wake-Sport Wakes and their Potential Impact on Shorelines” on page 25 states “Once the wake reached shallow water, energy becomes dissipated due to bottom friction”.
A list of just some of the pollutants in our sediments that are impairing 1,543 Wisconsin waterbodies according to the DNR and EPA, with many listed as contaminating fish tissue:
2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin Ammonia Arsenic Cadmium Chloride Creosote Dioxin Lead Mercury PCBs Phosphorus Zinc
Propellor Downwash and energy from the stern plows thru the water resuspending (stirring up) silt and muck
Shorelines as an ecosystem are being destroyed
Lake property owners are increasingly “Armoring” their shorelines, with Rip Rap, for protection against large wakes in order to protect against shoreline erosion. What was once the exception is increasingly the norm.
Once natural shorelines are replaced with weedbarrior and rock, pristine shorelines no longer provide a habitat for duck nests, turtles and natural shoreline vegetation.
Those shorelines that are left “unarmored” face unprecedented impacts from waves in excess of gale force winds with little chance to “heal”