County looks again at excessive wakes

It's been nine months since the Kootenai County commissioners adopted a 150-foot, no-excessive-wake ordinance on the Spokane River.

Already there's debate about its effectiveness.

Discussions on no-excessive-wake zones and boating safety conditions on the Spokane River are nothing new. In Parks and Waterways advisory board chairman Terry Werner's six years on the board, the topic has been present in every single one. 

After the board of commissioners passed the ordinance 2-1 last May, Commissioner Leslie Duncan dissenting, they had hoped that the issue had been in part resolved. 

Werner said that last month, advisory board members felt it would be best to wait until the end of the 2021 boating season before reconsidering the ordinance. 

"At the end of this season, we'll come back and have all the statistics and facts after a year of the education warning and extra enforcement," Werner said. "Give the ordinance another year to be enforced and see how things turn out instead of changing the ordinance completely." 

But on Monday, the county commission's chairman, Chris Fillios, echoed his concerns that the ordinance isn't providing the results he'd hoped for.

When they established the 150-foot rule, he and the board believed it was providing a sufficient margin for recreational boaters. However, in hindsight, he thinks it has fallen short.

"But what turned out in the end, I think — and this is the concern that some of the residents have — is that it potentially gives license to someone that beyond 150 foot they can generate an excessive wake," Fillios said. "I think, inadvertently, we intended to try to prevent a problem, but we might in the process have created another."

By permitting an excessive wake, Fillios said the ordinance conflicts with state law, which does not permit any excessive or damaging wakes. He noted that in conversations with former Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger, the official felt that towing should also be prohibited on the Spokane River.

In his opinion, Fillios said that waiting for further data won't change the danger of excessive wakes this coming summer. 

"I'm not going to wait for the accident, and I'm certainly not going to wait for a death," Fillios said. "From my perspective, there should be no excessive wake zone, and we need to eliminate the 150-foot rule."

Duncan told Fillios that towing and excessive wake are two separate issues and should be handled as such, noting that she skis about 32 mph, and there is hardly any wake.

"We had no accidents on the Spokane River last year, none. Out of the 26 accidents on Kootenai County waterways, zero problems (were there)," Duncan said. "So to say this is a safety issue when citations and accidents do not back that up, I cannot support that."

The waterways advisory board has received many calls and emails from residents arguing both for and against the ordinance, Werner said. However, while they understand the safety concerns associated with excessive wake, the board favored waiting to receive more data rather than making a decision "based on squeaky wheels."

In a conversation with the KCSO, Werner said that Sheriff Bob Norris feared further restrictions could eliminate entire activities on the Spokane River. 

Ultimately, it would be the responsibility of the KCSO to enforce the ordinance. Last year, under Wolfinger, the marine division chose education on the new rule rather than enforcement, but that could change depending on Norris.