FAQs 

Why isn’t there a compromise?  Lake Waramaug is simply too small, narrow and shallow for wake surfing.  Terra Vigilis, the independent environmental science firm engaged by the three towns, recommended that wake surfing only be permitted in water that is 26 feet deep and 500 feet from shore, from other boats, and from other sensitive areas.  When applied to the Lake, that leaves nowhere wake surfing is safe as a practical matter.  Wake surfing is best suited for larger, deeper lakes like Candlewood, which is almost ten times as large as Waramaug and twice as deep.  

Why doesn’t the 20’/200’ compromise proposed by the wake surfers work?  Because it doesn’t solve the environmental problem (wake surfing downdrafts go down to 26 feet) and ignores the safety issue completely (no distance requirement from other Lake users).  And it opens up virtually the entire Lake for wake surfing, while cordoning off everyone else to a 200 foot buffer around the Lake to avoid the wake waves.  When superimposed on the map of the Lake, the surfers’ compromise proposal gives 87% of the Lake to surfers for their zone, and just 13% for everyone else – swimmers, paddlers, fishermen and other boaters.   

Why can’t everyone share the Lake?  We can.  The fair and courteous compromise here is that wake boat owners operate their boats in “ski” mode, just like every other motor boat on the Lake.  Then everyone can share the Lake.  Instead, the wake boat owners insist on wake surfing, which threatens the safety of everyone else and the ecology of the Lake itself.  If enacted, the ban would only apply to wake surfing, not to operating a wake boat in ski mode.  

Isn’t wake surfing a tiny fraction of the boating on the Lake, having a di minimus effect?  No.  There are at least 40 wake boats on the Lake, and the  number is growing all the time.  Anyone who has been on the Lake on a summer weekend can see for themselves the overwhelming number of wake surfers. 

Surfers say they surf just 2% - or sometimes 4% - of the time so that can’t be hurting the Lake. First, this is a self-reported number by the surfers and deliberately unclearly stated.  2% of what?  365 days?  Second, if true, this number demonstrates the outsized impact of this activity on our small Lake.  Thousands of people visit the Lake every summer and this is the only activity that ruins the enjoyment and safety of neighbors and visitors.   Third, we don’t let folks engage in environmentally destructive behaviors just because they only do it “sometimes” or “a little.”  If everyone littered less than 2% of the time imagine what the Lake would look like.  Or if we let them drive 85 mph around the Lake because they only do it 2% of the time…  

Isn’t wake surfing safer than water skiing and tubing because surfers go much slower?  Only if you’re a wake surfer!!  The danger of wake surfing is not to the people doing it, but to everyone else on the Lake, due to the enormous size and underwater power of the artificial waves, which can capsize boats, toss people off their paddles, and overwhelm swimmers.  It has nothing to do with how fast the wake boat travels.   

Isn’t this “government overreach”?  No.  Lake Waramaug is owned by the public, not the wake boat owners or the Lake residents.  There must be “rules of the road,” just as they are on our surface roads, to protect everyone and the Lake itself.  The Lake is not the private property of wake boat owners, where they are free to do whatever they wish, without regard to the effect on everyone else.   

Isn’t a wake surf ban a “slippery slope” which can lead to the banning of paddleboarding, waterskiing and fishing?  This is a ridiculous scare tactic.  The supporters of a wake surf ban have made crystal clear that wake surfing is technologically different from all these other lake sports, which they have no intention whatsoever to regulate.  This is an argument you use when you have no facts or science on your side.    

If a wake surf ban is approved, won’t this go on for years?  Only if the opponents of the proposed ordinance refuse to abide by the judgment of the voters and insist on bringing frivolous lawsuits to overturn the voters wishes, as they repeatedly threaten.   

Are there “hundreds of lawsuits” challenging wakesurfing bans around the country?  This one is new to us and really a whopper.  Another false scare tactic.  Over 300 lakes across the country have banned wake surfing.  Many bans and large no-wake zones have been in place for years. Precisely two lawsuits have been brought, neither of which has been remotely successful and we expect both to be dismissed shortly.  There is no credible basis to challenge the will of the voters of the three towns and the years of work of the Selectmen in bringing this to a vote.   A ban is good public policy – well-grounded in serious safety issues, community complaints and proven scientific concerns about the environmental health of the Lake.  Surfers threaten lawsuits, but they do not articulate any plausible legal theories for doing so.   

Isn’t the argument for the ban based on misrepresentations about the environmental dangers?  No.  The science is clear:  Wake surfing is bad for the environmental health of lakes.  The independent environmental expert engaged by the three towns and the Lake Waramaug Authority, Terra Vigilis, found that wake surfing threatens the health of the Lake by stirring up long-buried chemicals on the Lake’s bottom which can lead to algae blooms and destroy a lake.  The enormous artificial waves from wake surfing also wash phosphorous into the Lake from the shore, also contributing to the threat of algae blooms.  The scientific conclusions of Terra Vigilis—which were endorsed by the Lake Waramaug Task Force—are consistent with studies all over the country and have not been rebutted by the wake surfers.  We have posted many of the independent studies about wake surf damage on our website – see the University of Minnesota study in particular.  We are told a second study with similar but even more concerning findings will be published soon.   

Isn’t the argument that wake surfing is unsafe also based on misrepresentations?  No.  The environmental expert engaged by the pro-wake surfers found that there were enormous and potentially fatal dangers of wake surfing to other boaters, swimmers and Lake users.  These findings remain unrebutted.