Boating Industry Seeks to Slow Tahoe’s Water Scooter Restrictions

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE —  On any summer weekend, upward of a hundred fun-loving souls take to the scenic reaches of Lake Tahoe on high-powered water scooters for some thrills and spills.

But the crystal waters of Tahoe suffer because of it.

Water scooters--dubbed personal watercraft by marine manufacturers and known as Jet Skis by most everyone else--are among the worst polluters around. In a two-hour ride, one of the vehicles typically dumps three gallons of unburned gas and oil into the drink.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, the bi-state group that acts as a steward for the lake, has given water scooters until June 1 to clean up their act. The boating industry is challenging that in federal court.

Eager to make the lawsuit go away, members of the Tahoe planning agency’s 14-member board next week will consider a request by the industry to temporarily relax the prohibitions for some craft.

As it now stands, machines powered by two-stroke engines with standard carburetors will be barred from the lake. Only avant garde machines, vastly less polluting and just now hitting the marketplace, would be permitted.

“The waters of Lake Tahoe are so clear, it’s pretty stunning to think about literally thousands of gallons of toxic materials like gas and oil going into it,” said John Marshall, the Tahoe planning agency’s legal counsel. “With cleaner technology now at hand, it seems reasonable to say, ‘Let’s get those dirtier engines off the lake. Let’s preserve this resource.’ ”

Lake Tahoe’s restrictions are emblematic of the sort of opposition water scooters face all over the Golden State.

The machines have been banned at the Monterey Bay marine sanctuary because they disturbed sea life. In San Francisco, they can’t operate within 1,200 feet of the shoreline, mostly because of noise gripes. Meanwhile, several reservoirs around the state have adopted prohibitions because of concerns about the cancer-causing effects of gas and oil additives in drinking water.

But the battle is doubtlessly the fiercest at Tahoe, where the world-renowned clarity of the lake’s waters has begun to suffer in recent decades. The get-tough rules are the product of more than three years of wrangling among environmentalists, boat manufacturers and others.

Personal watercraft are the fastest-growing segment of the boating world, accounting for a third of all sales. About 200,000 of the water scooters are sold nationwide, ringing up $1.4 billion annually.

At the Feb. 24 meeting, the industry hopes to gain an exemption through the summer of 2001 for two-stroke outboard engines of 10 horsepower or less, which are traditionally used for small fishing boats or as auxiliary power on sailboats.

It also is seeking an exemption for the next three summers for any newer water scooters that have electronic fuel-injected engines.

Some rental operators on the lake purchased such machines, which burn a bit more cleanly than those with traditional carburetors, in a good-faith effort to abide by the looming prohibitions. They say they would face financial hardship if they now had to buy even newer machines.

Ultimately, the only water scooters allowed on Lake Tahoe under the restrictions would be those with sophisticated direct fuel injection, which burn 75% more cleanly than traditional two-strokes. As of now, only two manufacturers produce such machines.

Environmentalists fear possible waffling on the part of the regional planning board, but remain confident that in time only the cleanest water scooters will be plying Tahoe’s waters.

“I think in the next few years we’re going to see a dramatic shift in the types of marine engines not just on Lake Tahoe, but on lakes everywhere,” said Rochelle Nason, executive director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe.

Watercraft rental operators agree. They want to see the lake remain pristine because that draws so many visitors. But they don’t want business harmed.

The costs of a new fleet are substantial. A direct-injection machine costs $9,000, compared to about $5,000 for the older models. And with the looming restrictions, they say, it has been virtually impossible to sell old machines.

But some rental operators have already bitten the bullet and upgraded.

“From the beginning, we’ve said we’d get the cleanest-burning engines as soon as the technology was available,” said Bob Hassett, who owns Action Water Sports of Tahoe. “It’s all for the good of the lake, and that’s something no one can argue with.”