Northwest Conservation District endorsed a full ban on wake surfing on Lake Waramaug. The NWCD, covering 34 towns in northwest CT, is one of over 3,000 conservation districts nationwide with a specific mandate to advise communities on protecting drinking water and aquifers, wetlands, and aquatic resources.  Visit NWCD site.

After doing its own extensive review of the relevant scientific data, NWCD issued this unqualified endorsement of a ban on wake surfing on Lake Waramaug.  

The Wall Street Journal:  Water Sport or Crime? The Bitter Fight Over Wave-Making Boats

Dozens of Wisconsin towns are banning fast-growing sport of wake surfing that critics say traumatizes kayakers and tears up lakes.

CT Insider:  Opinion: Wake surfing is putting Lake Waramaug at Risk.  By Natalie Dyer, William Hopkins, Kevin Brady, July 16, 2025.  Also appeared in the Waterbury Republican and the Litchfield County Times.   

Kent Dispatch (July 17):  Absentee Ballots are Available https://kentdispatch.org/lake-vote-absentee-ballots-available/

Kent Conservation Commission voted 5 to 0 to endorse the proposed Ban Ordinance (June 16): The Kent Conservation Commission held a special meeting today to consider the ban ordinance. A member of the Commission summarized the evidence pro- and anti-wake surfing as follows: There is ample evidence that wake surfing is a threat to Lake Waramaug. There is absolutely no evidence that wake surfing is not harmful. The Commission voted 5 to 0 to endorse the ban ordinance and will announce their decision at the public hearing tomorrow, June 17.

Ban Ordinance Approved by Lake Waramaug Authority (June 6): The nine members of the Lake Waramaug Authority unanimously voted to approve an ordinance banning wake surfing on the lake. Read ordinance here.

June 2 @ 3 PM: The Kent First Selectmen toured tour Lake Waramaug by boat.

May 20 @ 6 PM: Special Meeting of Board of Selectmen in Kent to review and discuss the specific studies of both Terra Vigilis and WEC as presented to the three town in order for the Selectmen to review and ask questions regarding the results of the studies as well as other aspects of the situation of Wake Boating and Wake Surfing on Lake Waramaug. Answering some of the specific results and issues of the various studies was Sean Hayden, advisor to the three lake towns.

May 18 – Protect Lake Waramaug Coalition to Ban Wake Surfing submits letter to Kent Selectmen on why a ban is necessary.  A compromise solution is not feasible without harming the Lake and would not address safety concerns.  Read the letter here: 

May 18, 2025

Board of Selectmen

Town of Kent, CT 

Dear Selectmen:

We are a recently formed organization of concerned neighbors and lovers of Lake Waramaug.  We believe that wake surfing should be banned on Lake Waramaug due to the grave environmental dangers to the Lake created by wake surfing and the significant safety risks imposed by wake surfing on swimmers, canoers, rowers, fishermen, paddleboarders and other Lake users.  We have set forth our evidence and arguments supporting this position in multiple submissions to the Selectmen and personal letters from our members and other concerned Lake users.  We also strongly endorse the views, conclusions and recommendations of the Terra Vigilis studies, which are in line with our views on this important issue.

We understand that the Selectmen are meeting on Tuesday, May 20, to address the issues raised by the Terra Vigilis studies and the critique of those studies contained in the January 24, 2025 Letter to the “Lake Waramaug Friends” from Water Environmental Consultants (“WEC Letter”).  At the last meeting of the Selectmen, one of the Selectmen stated their view that the WEC Letter raised multiple questions that should be addressed before the Selectmen may move forward to consider a ban on wake surfing. 

 Our organization believes strongly, however, that the WEC Letter, upon careful examination, raises no material issues that should stand in the way of a ban.  Our reasons—tracking the Executive Summary and General Comments of the WEC Letter—are as follows:

 ·       WEC does not dispute that wake surfing causes damage to the Lake.  The WEC Letter is striking more for what it does not say than what it says.  It nowhere disputes the fundamental environmental damage caused by the downdrafts of wake surf boats operated in surf mode on the floor of the Lake.  The central point of the Terra Vigilis study, in simple terms, is that wake surfing stirs up the Lake floor to a depth of 26 feet, and subjects the Lake to the release of phosphates as well as toxins and dangerous substances that are buried there.  Nothing in the WEC Letter says or even suggests this is not the case.  It remains unrebutted that operating a wake boat in surf mode imposes enormous environmental danger on the Lake.

 ·       Process, not substance.  The principal focus of the WEC critique, as noted in its Executive Summary, is its view of the process the Selectmen should employ in making public policy regarding the Lake, rather than the substance of the Terra Vigilis report.  (“However, many of my comments are related to the process for the development of boat wake management measures and how the LWIC can improve the process by which the issues are identified and management measures are developed.”) (WEC Letter, p.1).  But none of these process issues undermines the substantive conclusions of the Terra Vigilis studies—that wake boats operated in surf mode create enormous environmental risks to the Lake.

 ·       Ski boats are good.  The WEC Letter says that the Terra Vigilis report “implies that ski boat wakes are acceptable conditions on Lake Waramaug.”  ( Id., point 2, Executive Summary)  This is a meritless and irrelevant detour.  There is no factual evidence that ski boats create dangers to the Lake environment, and no one—especially our group—is advocating or even suggesting that action be taken regarding ski boats.

 ·       Water Quality is at Risk.  WEC makes much of the fact that water quality has allegedly improved “over recent decades.”  (Id., point 3)  That is no doubt true—when considering the last 50 years—based on the hard work of the Lake Waramaug Task Force and the financial contributions of its supporters.  But this statement is disingenuous in light of recent experience.  In fact, water quality has degraded in very recent years since the introduction of wake boats.  According to the Task Force’s most recent 2025 report, page 3, “When we look at the last 5 years, there is a decrease in clarity overall.”  See Graph 4. 

 ·      The Lake cannot tolerate more phosphorous:  On page 2, the WEC Letter dismisses the demonstrated increase in phosphate levels in the Lake and recommends “more study” about whether there is a connection between wake surfing and phosphates.  More study is always a good thing, but is not a reason to delay a ban on an activity proven to disperse phosphates.  The Task Force states clearly in its most recent report (State of the Lake 2025, see page 8) that the Lake is at a critical juncture and cannot tolerate any increase in phosphate levels:  “Graph 9 shows a slight increase in the lake’s surface phosphorous concentration,  hovering around the critical threshold of 20 …parts per billion.” We know wake surfing churns the Lake bottom.  We know the Lake bottom is where phosphates exist.  We know phosphates feed algae blooms, which will destroy the Lake.  We urge the Selectmen to defer to common sense and the long-proven science of the dangers posed by phosphates. 

 ·       Wake surfing’s impact is not “de minimus.” Incredibly, the WEC Letter suggests that wake surfing issues are di minimus compared to naturally occurring Lake issues.  (“LWF estimates that enhanced boat wakes occur up to 4% of the time, over an annual cycle.  The frequency of boat wake impacts should be considered in the context of other lake processes (such as wind events) over an annual cycle.”) (Id. Point 4)  Of course, no one has control over natural events on the Lake.  And the percentage of Lake activity made up of wake surfing does not address the environmental damage wake surfing imposes or the safety issues it creates.  We note that a version of this argument often comes up in public comments by wake boat owners—that they don’t use their boats all the time, just sometimes, or not very often.  So you should delay a ban to study this.  But the truth is everyone wants to be on the Lake at the same time: those beautiful sunny summer days.   Viewed this way, the impact of wake surfing is near 100%.  Once again, this is an irrelevant detour.   

 ·       Voluntary guidelines?  We tried that.  The WEC Letter suggests that the ability of previously proposed voluntary guidelines to manage wake surfing activity should be evaluated.  (Id., point 5)  We agree, and we think it is self-evident that voluntary compliance with wake boat guidelines has been a spectacular failure, as evidenced by anyone who has spent any time on the Lake in recent summers.  Not even the “Lake Waramaug Friends” can maintain in good faith that wake boaters have been abiding by the voluntary guidelines issued by the Lake Waramaug Task Force several years ago (which have since been withdrawn). 

 ·       Complaints About Wake Surfing Are Everywhere.  Finally, the WEC Letter suggests in its final Executive Summary point that a review of recorded safety incidents should be examined because “the 2024 report from State Trooper Joseph Hamel listed no complaints or citations related to enhanced wake boating during the entire summer of 2024.”  (Id., point 6)  The avalanche of complaints in 2024 about wake surfing by Lake users in the first phase of the Terra Vigilis study —catalogued in our web site—undermines completely the frivolous suggestion that because there are no police complaints, wake surfing raises no imposes no environmental or safety issues.  Swimmers, paddlers, rowers, waders – they have been driven off the Lake. 

 ·       Wake Boat Owners’ Consultant Agrees – wake surfing is unsafe for everyone else.  Tellingly, the very expert retained, advanced and endorsed by “Lake Waramaug Friends,” Water Environmental Consultants (whom the” Friends” presumably believe to be credible and reliable), found the following safety issues in their 2021 report on the use of wake boats in ballast mode on Lake Rabun and Lake Burton in Georgia:

   "Large wakes can create unsafe conditions by swamping recreational craft, impacting other boats, or causing falls overboard. Small craft, including canoes, kayaks, and sailboats are particularly at risk of being swamped, broached, or capsized by steep waves from wake boats." (WEC Report, at v)

    "As detailed by this report, wake boats produce much higher waves than typical cruising or waterskiing craft, and they also produce longer, more energetic waves. The increases in wave heights and wave lengths caused by wake boats increase the risk of injury or fatal accidents on these lakes through several possible mechanisms. These larger waves can:

•  “Increase risk of swamping of small craft that have a low freeboard, which in turn increases the risk of drowning or injury;

• “Increase risk of falls overboard, which also increases risk of drowning or injury;

• “Increase incidence of cruising boats slamming into waves, resulting in passenger injury; and

• “Increase incidence of vessels being pushed or slammed into docks or shoreline bulkheads, which increases risk of injury or death for people near the vessel." (Id. at v-vi)

 View WEC report in full.

 *                      *                      *                      *  

 To reiterate our central point:  There is nothing in the WEC Letter that rebuts the fundamental substantive findings of the Terra Vigilis studies—that the operation of wake boats in surf mode create enormous environmental dangers to Lake Waramaug due to the artificial wave activity and their damage to the Lake bottom.  Nor does the WEC Letter address, much less rebut, the litany of safety issues indisputably created by wake surfing.  These safety issues are discussed at length—and condemned—in WEC’s own reports on wake surfing on two lakes in Georgia.

Moreover, nowhere does the WEC Letter address the grave danger to the Lake environment imposed by the ballast tanks of wake boats, which can import dangerous insidious vegetation -- like hydrilla and milfoil, which have permanently ruined other lakes and rivers in Connecticut -- into our Lake environment.  A situation that will be expensive for taxpayers to mitigate and may prove all but irreparable. 

For all these reasons, the WEC Letter should not stand in the way of enacting sensible, smart, forward-looking legislation to protect the sensitive ecological environment of Lake Waramaug and to ensure the safety of all Lake users.  We urge you to follow the lead of the Washington Selectmen—and lake communities all across the country—and pass an ordinance to ban wake surfing forthwith.

                                                                        Respectfully,

                                                                        Bruce Birenboim

                                                                        Kelly Williams

 On behalf of Protect Lake Waramaug: Coalition to Ban Wake Surfing