HAUSER LAKE, Idaho — A longtime Hauser Lake resident is pushing for restrictions on wake boats, arguing the popular watercraft may be accelerating toxic algae blooms that threaten the health of the scenic North Idaho lake.
Scott Dinger, who has lived near Hauser Lake for 30 years, wants county commissioners to impose a one-year moratorium on wake speeds to study their impact on water quality.
Dinger says he has watched the area change dramatically in recent years. He says an influx of new homes and increased recreational activity has coincided with more frequent toxic algae blooms.
“The influx of homes lakeside and their septic systems, the nutrients that are in the lake as a result of those septic systems, and then you bring in this big, fast moving, powerful boat that creates a wake all of those things combined is going to quicken the pace of degradation of these lakes,” Dinger said.
Toxic algae blooms form when warm air, lack of rain and wind, and the right amount of light and nutrients combine. These blooms pose serious health risks to both people and animals.
Dinger believes wake boats may be making the problem worse and that restricting them could provide an easy solution. He also worries the combination of algae blooms and wake boat activity is affecting drinking water wells near the lake.
“A one year moratorium of any wake speeds on this lake,” Dinger proposed. “So we can look at water temperature, algae bloom activity, create a baseline that is going to help us, all of us.”
Dinger says the moratorium would allow researchers to study broader impacts beyond just the lake itself.
“It’ll allow us to study whether or not the drinking water wells that are adjacent to the lake are affected. If we see our nitrate levels that are in the wells right now, if we see them stabilize and not continue to go up like they’re doing now,” said Dinger.
The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality acknowledges the potential connection.
“Any boat that comes by can disturb those and mix it up into the water column, making the conditions a little bit easier for them to happen,” said Todd Higens with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. “Wake boats in particular, are designed to make bigger wakes and disturb that water more.”
However, state environmental officials say they are focusing on other things that may be impacting the health of Hauser Lake.
“We’re going to be more focused on the pollutants itself. So we’re going to be more concerned with phosphorus levels going into the lake to help reduce any of these issues in the future,” Higens said. “So that if we get less phosphorus in the water, then no matter how much stirring there is from boats, then hopefully that’s just not going to happen because those pollutants aren’t there in the first place.”
Any decision on a moratorium would fall to county commissioners. Dinger says officials have not responded to his letter requesting the restriction, but he believes immediate action is necessary to protect the lake’s future.
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