03/06/2019- High water trends and boaters travelling too fast are causing some significant shoreline damage along a stretch of the Peshtigo River. The Marinette County Development Committee is examining whether enacting a slow- no wake ordinance on the river from the City of Peshtigo to the mouth of the Bay of Green Bay might resolve some of these issues, but they’re working against the clock. Committee member Tom Mandli says the erosion is happening faster than you might think. He says he witnessed one residence on the river lose 15-feet of shoreline in a single season from high waters coupled with boater wakes.
The Committee went back and forth as to whether the proposed ordinance should be effective only during high water events or throughout the entire boating season. County Administrator John Lefebvre agrees something needs to be done, but he says, with a lack of law enforcement patrolling the area, the new regulation could be hard to enforce and he’d instead like to see more public education about why boaters should be mindful of their activity.
The Committee plans to draft an ordinance in April establishing the new slow- no wake zone on the Peshtigo River. That will be passed along to the full county board, but, even if approved this year, the Development Committee doesn’t expect it to go into effect until the 2020 boating season.