The old joke about the inevitability of death and taxes is funny because it’s true. Most of us want to delay both as long as possible. But many of us also want to make a difference for those people and things that we care about, and Lake Beulah is one of these for me and many of my friends.

As a Protect Lake Beulah (PLB) Board member for seven years, the end of my service this fall has me thinking about giving back and protecting this gem of a natural resource for future generations. That’s why I have proposed the establishment of Protect Lake Beulah Legacy (PLBL), a separate entity structured as a 501(c)(3) to capture donations large and small (including bequests) for investment that will grow over time and provide an annual income to Protect Lake Beulah to fund its evolution and initiatives.

A newly released Phase II study from the University of Minnesota’s St. Anthony Falls Lab reveals wakeboats in wakesurf mode can cause significant lake bottom disturbance—even in deeper waters. Underwater footage shows powerful prop wash uprooting vegetation and disturbing sediment at depths of 9 and 14 feet. Based on additional testing in 27 feet of water, researchers recommend wake surfing only in depths of 20 feet or greater (measured to the top of vegetation) to protect fish habitat and water quality.

It’s no secret the number of boats has increased on Lake Beulah over the last 20 years. So too has boat size and horsepower!! Whereas in the 1970s 100hp was considered a pretty big engine, nowadays we’re seeing 600hp boats on the lake, even pontoon boats powered by 600hp. New kinds of boats are quite common now, especially personal watercraft, and the number of wake boats goes up every year. How is all this boat traffic impacting the aquatic plants of the lake? And why should we care?

What was once the worry of only a few who realized how the new BIG WAKE technology ‘might’ be bad for the lake has increasingly become common knowledge. There is now a full-blown realization by many of what has already happened, and what the science shows will happen to our beautiful lake if we don’t curb wake enhancement now.

If you attended Protect Lake Beulah’s comprehensive forum on March 29th, you heard A LOT about what has already happening to the lake, but if you couldn’t make it, this article contains a Cliff Notes review of some highlights along with some other things to think about.

The first people to appreciate Lake Beulah were Native Americans who had many family-based settlements around the lake. Among them were Potawatomi Indians who settled in the area well before Wisconsin’s incorporation as a state in 1848. Evidence of their presence comes from artifacts found, Indian mounds reported in newspapers of the 1800s, and many informative documents detailing the extent of the lake’s early American history.

The photo in this article is from my History Committee colleague Beth Lanham’s collection of historic artifacts.

It seems like common sense for a buyer to decide what they want from a lakefront property they are considering before buying, but recent situations seem to show that isn’t always the case. Too often, without realizing the impact, buyers end up proposing development projects that would hurt the lake, thereby forcing Protect Lake Beulah and the LBMD to oppose the idea. Too much of everyone’s time and money is then spent resolving the ill-conceived idea.

Erosion on Lake Beulah’s shores has been a fact of life since the lake was formed. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if it weren’t for all the man-made structures put up over the years. The focus of this article is on the impact of power boats, but readers might be interested to know parts of the lake oftentimes experience serious shoreline erosion via ice damage.

Early lake property owners protected their shorelines with logs or long planks. Some had concrete seawalls constructed. Today, seawalls already installed are grandfathered, but otherwise no longer permitted.

Consternation continues to build over the impact of wake boats on Lake Beulah. Recent photos like those in this article point to how wake boats, with their deep ‘prop wash’ can chew up the lake bottom, sometimes in surprising locations. A previous article in LAKE VIEWS pointed to research showing wake boat prop wash can extend to a depth of 30’ below the surface.

Some are asking if this bottom disturbance is of any consequence, suggesting that the sediment stirred up simply resettles so that all is well. The answer is that while the sediment will resettle, a critically important component of the sediment is literally destroyed.