The following article is from the Conway Daily Sun.
Freedom—October 10, 2024—Several candidates made a connection between wake boats and bacteria blooms during a candidates event held Saturday at Freedom Town Hall.
Berry Bay Association is sponsoring the event with Ossipee Lake Alliance, Broad-Leavitt Bay Association and Green Mountain Conservation Group.
Candidates for executive council, state Senate and several state House districts and were invited. About 63 people attended.
Carlos Palacio of the Berry Bay Association asked about wake boats, which create large waves. He said Vermont requires wake boats to operate at least 500 feet from shore and Maine requires at least 300.
In New Hampshire, the distance is 150 feet. Palacio asked the candidates their positions on increasing the distance.
Senate candidate Rep. Mark McConkey (R-Freedom) said the Legislature debated bills expanding the distance to 300 to 500 feet and the senate agreed on 200 feet. Yet no expansion occurred. McConkey would support a distance of 200 to 250 feet
“The truth is, we had a compromise that was better than what we had, but chose not to take it,” said McConkey. “I hope to take this conversation again, and I will continue to give it a good thought.”
Marsh said wake boat enthusiasts from Maine will be coming to New Hampshire where the wake boat shore distance is shorter.
“We’ve been spending a ton of your taxpayer dollars on treatments that sequester phosphorus at the bottom of the lake, and if you take a wake boat over that and stir up the bottom, it’s not sequestered anymore,” said Marsh, adding wake boats have large tanks of water that can carry invasive species.
Moderator Don Johnson directed the discussion at Berry Bay Association’s candidate forum.
District 8 candidate Brian Taylor (R-Freedom) said he lives on a bay of Ossipee Lake and knows what wake boats can do. His neighbor had a dock destroyed by wake boats. He said that the boats stir up cyanobacteria that’s sitting on the bottom of lakes. He’d also like to see depth considered along with distance from shore.
“We’ve seen some pretty good storms on (Berry Bay), and at no time were the waves as high as wake boats generate,” said Taylor.
District 8 candidate Rob Davies (D-Wakefield) said he’d need to learn more about the issue.
District 8 candidate Jim Pittman (D-Effingham) said wake boats can also annoy others trying to enjoy lakes.
“If anybody’s ever been out paddling around a kayak or a canoe close to the shoreline and suddenly are almost swamped by somebody flying by, that alone is annoying enough, Never mind that it’s causing environmental damage to the shoreline. I’ll also be in favor of shock collars for the operators.”
District 8 candidate Richard Brown (R-Moultonborough) was at his son’s Marine Corps. graduation in California and unable to attend.
District 7 candidate Bobbi Boudman (D-Wolfeboro) recalled being chastised after putting pictures of herself wake-boarding on social media. Like several other candidates, Boudman said she now knows that wake boats have potential to stir bacteria off the bottom.
“I spent the next few weeks looking up the disasters that these wake boats have caused in other communities,” said Boudman. “I have had my walk of shame on this one.”
Boudman’s rival, Rep. Glenn Cordelli (R-Tuftonboro) did not attend.
In an email to the Sun, Saturday, McConkey said that State Sen. Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) is working on a grant with Gov. Chris Sununu to provide $500,000 that would go towards at risk lakes facing threats like cyanobacteria.
“This has been a huge issue this summer in the lakes region,” said McConkey, who would support the funding.
Marsh at the forum touted that he has been endorsed by the Sierra Club. Marsh would like to see the state work harder on preventing phosphorus from getting into lakes.
“I think we need to prevent the damage to our lakes in the first place, as opposed to spending tons of money on mitigation,” said Marsh.
Mark McConkey knows that a 200 foot wake surfing setback is useless because NH Lakes spent the past two years educating every elected official in the state that 200 feet is a number pulled out of thin air by the water sports industry to forestall a meaningful limit. Also, the legislative “compromise” he mentions was not 200 feet. It was 300 feet instead of 500 feet in the House. The 200 feet setback came from the Senate, in a bill that was shot down after the House marked it up to 300 feet. Whenever Mark McConkey begins a sentence with “The truth is…” you know you need to snap to attention.
Peter
The current distance to remain off the shoreline is 150′. It was clear during the debate that 300 and or 500′ did not have the votes to pass the House and Senate. 200′ was the compromise that would have passed. Unfortunately you and I will now go through another summer with only 150′ buffer instead of 200′
If only there was a requirement for politicians to wear patches on their suits indicating the businesses and corporations they receive donations from. You know. Like NASCAR drivers do.
I’m in favor of a 400’ distance from shorelines. We needn’t form committees and fact finding expeditions when neighboring states have already done the work. But as we know, studying a simple subject needs to be convoluted and testified to and tabled. It’s how politicians make ching. Delay is pay. $$