No-wake zone on Lake Minnetonka will double to within 300 feet of shore next year
MINNETONKA, Minn. -- Starting next year, boaters on Lake Minnetonka will have a new speed rule near the shoreline -- 5 miles per hour will be as fast as you can go anytime within 300 feet of shore.
That's double the current 150-foot distance.
The Lake Minnetonka Conservation District voted on the change earlier this month.
Board members say the wakes make it hard for people in kayaks and canoes to use the lake. Boats passing close to shore at fast speeds also contributes to shoreline erosion.
Tyler Andrews, a fisherman who lives in Minnetonka, says large waves have knocked him overboard before.
"With those wake boats, it's like a 2-foot, 3-foot chop, and it's really hard to stand up in your boat or even enjoy the day," he said.
John Bendt, the president of non-profit Citizens for Sharing Lake Minnetonka, says the new rules don't go far enough.
"We ask that no wakesurfing take place before noon on bays of 250 acres," he said.
Bendt lives on Minnetonka. He and his neighbors have environmental concerns about the waves, too.
"They can move the lake bottom at near-shore locations which can disrupt spawning beds for fish and disturb waterfowl nesting sites," Bendt said.
The University of Minnesota's St. Anthony Falls Laboratory is in the middle of researching the impacts of waves and propeller wash on the lake.
"Many of us cherish these lakes, and that includes people who use them in wake surf boats or other types of boats, so this is an issue where we need to come together and look at all different sources of information," said Jeff Marr, the Laboratory's Associate Director of Engineering.
A recent survey by the DNR shows more than 90% of boaters they asked support some kind of restrictions on wake-surfing.