by Diane Lehder

In April of 2024, the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) adopted new rules regulating wakesports on Vermont’s inland lakes and ponds. The new rules restricted wakesports to 30 of the state’s 73 largest lakes, including Willoughby Lake.  Soon thereafter, ten lakes, including Willoughby, petitioned the DEC to prohibit wakesports. In spring 2025, the DEC summarily denied all petitions and reopened the rulemaking process, saying the initial rules did not adequately address safety issues.

After nearly a year of rulemaking with multiple opportunities for public input, the DEC implemented revised rules last June that further restricted wakesports to only 18 Vermont lakes. Willoughby remains on the wakesports eligible list.

The new rules doubled the minimum size of a wakesports zone from 50 to 100 contiguous acres, required a 3,000-foot minimum wakesports run, increased the required distance between wakesports activity and other lake users from 200 to 500 feet, increased the minimum distance from nesting loons from 300 to 500 feet, and required hot water decontamination of ballasted boats at state-approved decontamination sites before moving between bodies of water.  The minimum depth in wakesports zones remains 20 feet.  Wakeboats not operating in wakesports mode are still allowed on all 73 lakes where motorized vessels are permitted.

With tourism down in Vermont this year, the number of motorized boats and wakeboats launched at Willoughby Lake, and throughout the state, also decreased. Several factors complicate counting wakeboats.  Wakeboats can be hard to identify, and many greeter stations operate only during limited hours, so officials believe the numbers we do have still underestimate wakeboat activity on our lakes. Further complicating matters, one wakesports-eligible lake did not have a greeter program this summer.  All that said, 18 wakeboat launches were reported at Willoughby this summer, and several wakeboats were probably counted more than once if they were removed from the lake and later launched again.  Only one wakeboat operator reported coming from a different waterbody, so while it cannot be confirmed, the data suggest that virtually all of our wakeboat launches this summer were wakeboats “resident” to the lake.

At the end of the season, I spoke with several Vermont Fish and Wildlife wardens who are knowledgeable about boating on Willoughby and throughout the state.  While they did not report any verifiable violations of the new wakesports rules, they acknowledged several incidents where boaters failed to treat others courteously.  This appears to confirm occasional conversations still heard around the lake about boats rocked or overwashed by large wakes and/or blasted by amplified music.

Regardless of the new regulations, if we all renew our focus on safety and courtesy, everyone will enjoy their time on the water.

To receive updates on Vermont’s wakesports regulations, please email dianezlehder@gmail.com.