Conflict on the river
Complaints lead to greater law enforcement presence on lake area waterways to monitor impact of jetboats and personal watercraft
By Joyce L. Miller /Lake Sun
Published: Friday, July 14, 2006 12:15 AM CDT
Solitude on Ozarks waterways is becoming harder and harder to find as complaints about packs of PWCs and high-speed jetboats roaring through floaters continue to mount.
David Schiefelbein/Lake Sun
LAKE OF THE OZARKS - Lake area rivers and streams, once thought to be the domain of wading fishermen and canoe, raft and kayak enthusiasts, have become a weekend hangout for rowdies, personal watercraft users and jet boat operators. This has raised concerns among landowners who have sought the peace and quiet of living along the rivers, users concerned about the safety and environmental impact, and law enforcement agencies charged with patrolling the waterways and enforcing conservation regulations. The issue is drawing more attention from the agencies, which are sending officers to the streams in an effort to step up enforcement and dissuade rowdy and destructive behavior.
That means assigning more manpower to rivers and streams for the Missouri Water Patrol and Missouri Department of Conservation.
The increased enforcement is a response to river outfitters and others who say the streams are attracting watercraft and crowds that are chasing families away, especially on weekends when some streams turn into wall-to-wall floaters.
Now streams are experiencing an increase in PWCs and 18- to 20-foot aluminum jet boats zipping up and down the waterways.
Two years ago, the Water Patrol added officers to patrol streams across the state. In close proximity to the Lake of the Ozarks, the Gasconade and Big Niangua rivers draw the largest crowds.
The Water Patrol is responsible for handling fights, assaults, trespassing issues, medical calls and drug and alcohol violations. MDC handles wildlife and littering violations.
At times, the two agencies work together on enforcement issues. Officers conduct saturation patrols where they find areas that lend themselves to surveillance where they can monitor the streams.
MDC agents have found that maintaining a presence along the streams helps cut down on problems, but there aren?t enough agents to saturate each stream every weekend.
?The rivers and streams are drawing large groups seeking different uses with a multitude of age groups and that tends to cause conflicts,? Water Patrol Sgt. Nick Humphrey said. ?We have groups in canoes, kayaks and tubes who are floating for recreation or fishing and groups in jet boats or on PWCs. When we mix the different groups and mix the uses, that leads to problems. At the same time, we are also seeing more assaults, lewd behavior, littering, drugs, alcohol and minors in possession.?
Humphrey said use of PWCs and jet boats on rivers and streams is on the rise. As are complaints from users who say operators of motorized vessels are causing safety hazards for floaters.
?Jet boats and PWCs have to maintain speed through the shallow areas where flotillas of floaters tend to congregate. With the jet boats, they have to stay on plane in those shallow areas, so they shoot through the flotillas,? Humphrey said.
?They can?t slow down and that causes a problem. The uses just aren?t compatible, but there aren?t any easy solutions.?
Contact this reporter at
joycem@lakesunleader.com 
About every time the WP is in the news over some controversy it's always "we don't have the manpower to .....". But did you see anywhere in that article where they talked about hiring more officers? I guess if the existing officers can get there in 1/2 the time with a new boat, it's almost like having more staff. 
