Stiffer boating laws to go unenforced at Lake Tahoe

Because the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency has no police powers, it lacks the authority to enforce laws prohibiting all motorized watercraft from going faster than 5 knots per hour within 600 feet of shore or from entering any Lake Tahoe tributary.

So far, Nevada, California and five counties claiming a portion of the lake have not passed laws mirroring the bi-state agency's regulations.

The law establishing the speed limit was enacted to reduce noise from personal watercraft such as Jet Skis and Sea-Doos.

At the same time, the agency approved a ban on two-stroke engines that power Jet Skis and Sea-Doos from Lake Tahoe beginning in June 1999. Planning officials branded them as noisy polluters, but the boating industry has since sued the agency over the ban.

"I don't mind if somebody wants to obey it, but we have no authority to enforce," said Scott Baumgardner, a Placer County, Calif., sheriff's deputy and boating enforcement officer at the lake.

Like other boating officers at Lake Tahoe, Baumgardner plans to enforce existing regulations.

Both states have laws establishing no-wake zones within 200 feet of beaches and prohibiting boats from speeding within 100 feet of swimmers in the lake.

For now, the agency hopes to persuade boaters to obey the new 600-foot no-wake zone through a publicity campaign.

Lake Tahoe visitors bureaus included information on the regulations in summer brochures, and the agency is considering posting signs.

"We are trying to take advantage of every opportunity we can to get the word out," said agency spokeswoman Pam Drum.

Fred Messmann, boating law administrator for the Nevada Division of Wildlife, said his officers are willing to tell boaters about the regulations but can do little else.

"We'd be more than happy to share that information with them, but we will not be out there enforcing it," he said. "Obviously, if we don't have a regulation, there's nothing to enforce."

Marina operators said they were ready to pass on word of the stricter no-wake regulations to boat renters. Many already have policies exceeding the stricter rules.

At Lakeside Marina in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., renters are required to keep their machines at least 1,500 feet from shore, owner Steve Gadsby said.

"We did it before they even passed that," he said.

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