Officials propose banning popular water activity after uptick in complaints: 'Someone's really going to get hurt'
A proposed bill in Minnesota would ban wakesurfing along a stretch of the United States' longest river.
The Mississippi River runs through the heart of Minnesota, giving residents access to plenty of aquatic recreational activities. But for a six-mile stretch just north of Minneapolis, Fox 9 reported, the river becomes more like a lake, with wake boats causing large waves that many residents believe are too dangerous.
"It's going to happen that someone's really going to get hurt," local resident Tom McCullough told the news station. "When you have a dock or a floating dock or otherwise, you're like a drunken sailor trying to stand up on that dock. So, heaven forbid you have kids down here playing in the water."
That, along with a fear that the waves could cause coastal erosion, prompted state Sen. John Hoffman to author a bill banning the boats, and wakesurfing, from that six-mile area.
Opponents of the bill, including the boating industry, point to studies that show that boat wakes help aquatic life by increasing the amount of oxygen in the water. Those studies also show, however, that boats are best for the water and the shoreline when operating 200 feet from shore.
Other studies, such as one from Wisconsin's Green Fire in 2024, show that wake boats can have a major impact on the environment.
"Major issues of concern from wake boats and recreational wakes include elevated risks of spreading aquatic invasive species, accelerating shoreline erosion, damaging aquatic plant communities, resuspending lake sediment, water column mixing, and disturbing fauna," the report stated.
The Sierra Club has noted that recreational boats and jet skis combine to use 1.4 billion gallons of gas annually. Although there are companies working on electric boats to combat that problem, it's still a hobby primarily powered by dirty energy.
Between those environmental concerns and potential safety issues, many feel this bill is a no-brainer.
"This is something they can easily do," McCullough told Fox 9. "We're not changing the world. We're just making this area safe."
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