LETTER: Thanks for supporting Waterbury Reservoir wakesport ban
May 27, 2026To the Community:
Through a lengthy process and several years of effort, Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources proposed changes to the Use of Public Waters Rules that restricts wakesports on numerous small inland lakes have been approved.
The 2024 initial rule changes removed wakesports from all but 30 inland lakes in Vermont, leaving the Waterbury Reservoir as an approved lake for this sport. The Friends of Waterbury Reservoir chose to go forward with a lake-specific petition requesting that the reservoir be removed from this list.
We were not alone! Petitions were submitted pertaining to 14 additional lakes where similar concerns were raised about the impact to our inland lakes by this sport.
After reviewing these petitions, the agency agreed that they had not considered many safety concerns that were brought to their attention through the petition process and felt it was necessary to revisit the 2024 rules changes with additional protections for some of these lakes. What resulted was the removal of 12 lakes from the originally approved list (Lake Iroquois, Joe’s Pond, Lake Hortonia, Waterbury Reservoir, Sunset Lake, Miles Pond, Shadow Lake in Glover, Holland Pond, Peacham Pond, Lake Parker, Lake Fairlee, and Mollys Falls Reservoir).
The Agency of Natural Resources cited safety improvements for traditional lake users, environmental protection of shorelines, water quality, wildlife habitats, and aquatic invasive species prevention through decontamination requirements. They identified these items as necessary to address during this revision process.
The key safety changes to this rule that removed 12 lakes from the approved list include a larger wakesports zone size from 50 to 100 contiguous acres and a minimum 3,000-foot wakesports run within the wakesports zone for the lakes where wakesports are allowed.
Also for the remaining 18 inland lakes allowing wakesports, changes include an additional expansion of safety buffers from other users (swimmers, canoers, kayakers, moored vessels) from 200 to 500 feet, and an expansion for loon nesting protection from 300 to 500 feet during nesting season.
These rule changes will improve user safety, protect wildlife, and reduce environmental impacts from wakes. They reduce wakesports on many smaller lakes, they require larger, safer zones for wakesports activities, they mandate decontamination for all ballasted boats, which includes wake boats, moving between lakes, and they strengthen protections for loons and other wildlife who share these water bodies with us.
We could not have done this alone!
Vermont citizens contributed significantly to this process. The last public comments held this winter generated over 1,500 responses. Of these, over 80% voiced support for addressing safety concerns, creating additional safeguards to control the spread of aquatic invasive species, concerns over damage to shorelines, and enhancing quality lake experiences for users.
Thank you to everyone who stepped up to the plate and supported our initial petition, wrote compelling letters, spoke at numerous public hearings, and those who showed up.
A special thanks to Responsible Wakes for Vermont Lakes, the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, the Waterbury, Duxbury, and Stowe select boards, the Conservation Committees in our communities, the Board of Directors of the Friends of Waterbury Reservoir, and so many more organizations and individuals.
Here are several examples of comments we have received:
"Thank you, Friends of Waterbury Reservoir and other environmental organizations, for your tireless work! The Agency of Natural Resources’ recent ruling, that has added to the number of lakes on which wakeboats are prohibited and which has increased the safety buffer zones to 500 feet, is a great step in the right direction. I believe that Vermont’s future experience with the remaining water bodies, which still permit wakeboating, will lead to additional needed strictures on the use of these vessels." – Peter Shea, angler, Burlington
"Thanks to the hard work of the Friends of Waterbury Reservoir, our kayakers have a safe, beautiful and peaceful place to paddle." – Cathy Webster, program manager, Adaptive Kayaking, Northeast Disabled Athletic Association
“We are thrilled that the Waterbury Reservoir will be protected from wake boat traffic. The decision to restrict their use will guarantee that our many athletes with disabilities who kayak there can enjoy the waters safely and joyfully.” – Cynthia Needham, president, Green Mountain Adaptive Sports Board of Directors
This was a group effort and is a shining light and inspiration to the many people who seek to protect our lakes.
Eric Chittenden, president
Friends of Waterbury Reservoir
Waterbury