Letter: Protect Waterbury Reservoir – Your voice counts
February 2, 2026To the Community:
The Friends of Waterbury Reservoir is a community organization with a mission to protect and improve the Waterbury Reservoir experience for the majority of users and wildlife. We have joined many other Vermont lake groups and petitioned the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources to modify the regulations regarding wakesports.
The Agency of Natural Resources has proposed changes to Vermont’s Use of Public Waters Rules. The resulting proposed updates to the wakesports zone definition are:
That wakesports zones be at least 3,000 feet in length.
That the wakesports zone contains 100 contiguous acres of lake; that it is at least 500 feet from shore and is 20 feet in depth throughout.
An allowance for “shape normalization” of the wakesports zone to remove odd-shaped sections.
These changes will reduce the number of Vermont’s inland lakes that can allow wakesports, from 30 to 18. It will not affect wakesports on Lake Champlain, Lake Memphremagog, or any other border lakes.
Note: This rule change would NOT restrict water skiing, tubing, boarding, or other normal motorboat activities. It only addresses the activity of people surfing behind boats that are designed to create abnormally large wakes that allow the surfer to surf without a towline.
Time is of the essence. We need your support now. Let ANR know that you agree to their changes to Vermont’s Use of Public Waters Rules, which would prohibit wakesports on the Waterbury Reservoir, even though the changes do not go far enough. To do this:
Submit an email to ANR.WSMDLakes@vermont.gov with the word “wakesports” in the subject line.
Please email the Friends of Waterbury Reservoir at waterburyres@gmail.com to let us know that you have commented, so that we can avoid duplicate requests to you.
The deadline for all written comments is Feb. 20, no later than 4:30 p.m.
Please let your voice be heard! This is one of those moments when your influence will be felt.
Note: Find more information online about the state’s wakesports rules here and details on the public process regarding proposed revisions to the rules here including details to attend in person or virtually a public meeting on Feb. 4 from 5 to 8 p.m.