Several places around North Central Wisconsin have adopted wake boat ordinances including Newbold, Presque Isle and Lake Tomahawk.
They do not ban wake boats, but ballast tanks on them.
Those are located beneath the boat and create enhanced wakes which are large, powerful wakes that can go as deep as 30 feet.
Those are meant to give people wake surfing a centralized area to ride upon.
In shallower lakes or parts of lakes, the wakes are powerful enough to stir up sediment and potentially damage lakes' surfaces.
In the case of North Two Lakes in Lake Tomahawk, Lake Tomahawk Town Supervisor Lenore Lopez said that someone had brought a wake boat on the lake about a year ago and after diving near the shoreline, the enhanced wakes damaged the sandbar.
After that, Lopez and other people in the town began doing some research on potentially making an ordinance to ban the ballast tanks on wake boats.
If other cities and towns are considering making an ordinance, Lopez said they have to do their homework.
"Each one of the lakes is so individual and the configuration of the lake is a factor, the depth of the lake is a factor, the acreage of the lake is a factor," said Lopez.
Another factor in banning ballast tanks was that Lopez said they store some residual water from the lake they are in.
If that boat is in a lake with invasive species and then is used in another lake, invasive species from Lake A could spread to Lake B.
Lake Tomahawk resident and North Two Lakes Private Boat Launch Overseer Jack Block did some research of his own as well and took a class about wake boats at Nicolet College.
There he said he learned just how much of a punch the enhanced wakes can pack.
"It's the equivalent of putting an F150 truck on the back of the boat," said Block. "That's how much thrust and power goes down 20, 25, and maybe even 30 feet in some cases so there's your agitation to the bottom of the lake, your vegetation, etcetera."
Opponents of these ordinances question why many are just being put into place recently since wake boats have been on lakes for years.
They also call for more research.
Lopez said for Lake Tomahawk, it was an easier decision because there was clear damage from the enhanced wakes to that sandbar at North Two Lakes.
Block also said, wake boats with ballast tanks had not really been used on the lake much and they had not encountered a time damage was done like it was with the sandbar.
Currently, making ordinances like these are up to the cities and towns of Wisconsin and Lopez said she thinks it should stay that way because each lake has its own unique features and circumstances.
