MN COLA recognizes that wake surfing activities are fun water sports. Yet, if done where inappropriate, it/they can impact water quality, fishing, and threaten personal safety. Our goal is to keep Minnesota’s public waters healthy, safe, and available for all. To that end MN COLA has developed a position statement on enhanced wake activities.
SafeWakes Seminar
MN COLA and the SafeWakes organization presented a seminar on April 16, 2025.
In a recent survey MN COLA members ranked “enhanced wake activities” as one of their three most pressing issues. To that end, MN COLA has worked for years on the environmental and safety challenges in recreation using enhanced wakes. Finding ways to share and protect our incredible water resources is the goal and it will require several steps.
One step is to raise awareness and increase the understanding of the impacts of enhanced wake activities across the boating population. MN COLA was a vocal proponent at the 2023 legislature, arguing for a mandatory boat operator’s license in Minnesota intended to improve safety on the water. Obtaining that license requires that boaters complete an education program that addresses among other things, best practices related to boating safety, AIS, and minimizing conflicts on the water.
Another step is obtaining the science to underpin possible solutions. MN COLA actively supports the work done by the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL) at the University of Minnesota to understand the impact of boat wakes and propellor thrust.
And we believe that some form of regulation will be required to achieve the balance needed for recreation, safety, and environmental protection. Unfortunately, a statewide approach isn’t likely in the near term. In the interim, obtaining local regulations on surface water activities may be possible using the DNR petition process. In fact, it was used in 2024 by Caribou Lake in Cook County to establish surface water restrictions on enhanced wake activities. This special seminar was designed to provide an overview of the DNR petition process.
Here are links to materials from the seminar, including:
- The meeting presentation
- The Q&A that followed the presentation
- Presentation slides used in the meeting
- References discussed in the presentation