Terra Vigilis was hired by the towns of Washington, Warren and Kent to conduct a wave impact study of wake surfing on Lake Waramaug.
Comprehensive view of impact of wake surfing on Wisconsin’s Lake Beulah, a lake very similar to Lake Waramaug. Anyone who fishes Lake Waramaug should watch this video! (Video produced by Last Wilderness Alliance.)
Connecticut Law Tribune Editorial Board comes out strongly for regulation of wake surfing and urges CT to follow the lead of MN, OR, SC and VT to protect our waterways and riparian environments.
By Connecticut Law Tribune Editorial Board (April 29, 2025)
The State of Connecticut and local governments need to understand the impacts of wake boats and adopt reasonable regulations to limit their use on our rivers and lakes.
A “wake boat” is a powerboat that has one mission in life: to make big waves, or wakes as they are also called, that are consistent and will enable popular watersports including waterskiing, wakeboarding, and wake surfing. Ordinary powerboats are designed to minimize drag for greater speed and economy and that minimizes wakes.
To create extra drag, and thus large wakes, wake boats have ballast tanks, typically filled with the water in which the boats are operated. Their hulls are designed to make large wakes, typically incorporating adjustable fins or plates that can be adjusted to maximize the wake. Their wakes are 2-3 times bigger than regular boats, with 12 times the energy from wave action.
Wake boats provide lots of fun for many people, so why regulate?
The large and persistent waves from wake boats cause shoreline damage, eroding banks along rivers and lakes. Not only are the wakes larger and more powerful, but they can cause damage from wake boats 600 feet and more form shore. They disturb and destroy natural shoreline habitats and wipe out nesting areas. The wakes endanger swimmers.
The powerful waves go to the bottom of rivers and lakes, stirring up sediment and degrading water quality. They blow through thermoclines , the distinct layers of water temperature, profoundly changing the subsurface environment.
The ballast tanks? They pick up as much as 1,200 gallons of water. That water may contain invasive species, like Hydrilla, which the Connecticut River Conservancy calls the “world’s worst aquatic plant.” Matt Goclowski of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Fisheries Division says: “one of the biggest factors is boats and trailers as people are moving around from one body of water to another and they’re not clearing all of plant fragments from their boat or the trailer.” Wake boats are literally carriers of Hydrilla and other invasive species.
They also create dangerous conditions for moored and docked boats, especially for those fueling. Connecticut has “no wake” zones on the Connecticut and Pawcatuck Rivers to prevent that damage and danger but there is no regulation of wake boats.
Several states in recent years have come to regulate wake boats. Oregon does not allow wake surfing in some areas of the Willamette River. Wake surfing is limited to designated areas 500 feet and more from shore, 200 feet wide, and where the water is greater than 20 feet deep.
South Carolina prohibits wake boats within 200 feet of moored and docked boats and swimmers.
Minnesota, similar to Oregon, requires wake boats to stay at least 500 feet off shore and operate only in water that is at least 20 feet deep.
The newest state to step up to get control of the unregulated use of wake boats is our environmentally conscious neighbor to the north, Vermont. On April 15, 2024, Vermont added a new rule to its use of public water. It permits wake sports in designated locations and only within defined zones. The website provides a map of the designated locations. The rule also requires wake boat decontamination when a boat is removed from its “Home Lake,” which is shown on a decal attached to the wake boat.
The Lake Waramaug Task Force, a non-profit organization of volunteers and scientists that provides leadership in restoring and maintaining the ecology and water quality of Lake Waramaug and its watershed in Washington, Warren, and Kent, Connecticut, has been a leader in preventing invasive species from entering the lake. Washington, Warren, and Kent, Connecticut, have now taken on the issue of wake boats in Lake Waramaug and are near the end of a study that may lead to regulation. This effort may serve as a good example of where to start, but this is a matter for statewide involvement as well.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection should investigate what other states and local governments are doing and develop a program like those, tailored to Connecticut’s own geography, environment, and politics. There is room for local regulation, but the state should take the lead.
Every day that we delay in addressing this problem continues the unnecessary danger to the people of Connecticut and our environment. Watersports are great fun and wakeboats are an essential part of that. We can have both – fun and protection of life safety and the environment – but it requires thoughtful regulation.