How detrimental is power boating (ie skiing, wakeboarding, jet skiing) to smaller bodies of water?

Question

A lake in my county is being studied as to whether it is a canidate for an 'ecozone' in which a cetain section of the body of water would be designated for only boats power by electric motors or less. This would encompass maybe 5% or less of the entire body of water. It is a free country and pleasure boaters have as much right to be on the water as everyone else. But it is frustrating to see an otherwise nice lake be churned into slop.

Answer 1

i have a boat and i would not have a problem with that , in fact their are some lakes i fish where an outboard is not allowed and it's quite peace full

Answer 2

I think it would be very detrimental to the wildlife, also to fishermen who eat fish they caught from the lake. We have a house on the lake and take our canoe out, so we are always worried about being run into by a speed boat, when few people are out in speed boats, it is much more relaxing. Might be nice to see power vehicles to be used in the lake have licsensing rates raised a lot, then maybe there would be fewer power boats messing up the lakes.

Answer 3

extremely and it destroys the serenity also.

Answer 4

That really depends on what you're looking at.  Are you asking about noise "pollution" or damage to wildlife, or plantlife within the lake, or damage to life on the banks of the lake?

It's fairly common for small sections of larger lakes to be designated as electric motor or homan powered vehicle only.  It's generally considered a good compromise between the money brought in by all the recreational boaters and those more suited for quieter activities.

Answer 5

Fossil Fuel Exhausts

There is a case for all bodies of water below a certain size to be accessible only to non-motorised craft  for reasons already outlined herein, plus the fact that most of the motor-craft would use fossil fuels which

- put exhaust into the lake area (some motor exhaust  goes straight into the water)

- contributes to accelerated climate change

Sorry, I don't have exact sources, other than all recent environmental science textbooks (First Year textbooks give good overviews of burning fuels)

Search "combustion  + engine + exhausts"

Freedom = responsibility

A 'free country' like Australia or USA means we have the freedom to weigh the needs of future generations with needs of the present, which leads to a responsibility to prevent damage to our heritage (and all public spaces).