State agency reviews wake-sports rule after lake groups petition to prohibit wake boats on inland lakes

At a Natural Resources & Energy Committee meeting, officials from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources reviewed the wake‑sports rule the agency adopted for the 2024 season and outlined next steps after lake groups filed petitions asking the agency to prohibit wake sports on several inland lakes.

Agency deputy director Bethany Sargent and staff from the Lakes and Ponds program described how the existing "use of public waters" rules, adopted under state authority, were used to regulate wake sports and how the department applied technical criteria to limit where wake sports may occur. "The rule that we came up with was that we needed to have 50 contiguous acres of lake or pond that was 500 feet from shore on all sides and at least 20 feet deep," said Laura Gugileschi of the Lakes and Ponds program, describing the criteria intended to reduce bottom disturbance and shoreline erosion.

The rule, the agency said, makes wake‑sport zones available only on lakes that meet those size and depth thresholds; under that standard roughly 30 inland lakes are technically eligible. Enforcement of the use‑of‑public‑waters rules is carried out by partners including the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Vermont State Police Marine Division and Vermont Fish & Wildlife…