Tahoe Votes to Bump Jet Skis

by Kathryn Morgan
Bluewater Network

Personal watercraft - JET SKIS®, Waverunners® and Sea Doos® - have long plagued beachgoers and marine enthusiasts with their overpowering, mosquito-like noise. But soaring accident and injury rates - along with gruesome deaths and wildlife harassment - have brought jet skis into the national spotlight. With recent disclosures about the pollution caused by their two-stroke engines, lawmakers and environmentalists alike are calling for a crackdown on these popular watercraft.

Highly maneuverable and able to reach 65 mph, jet skis are marketed as "thrill" vehicles capable of performing rodeo-like stunts. Weaving between vessels, jumping wakes and "spinning doughnuts" are commonplace.

These vehicles, the fastest-growing segment of the boating industry, now account for one-third of all boat sales in the US. The $1.4 billion-a-year jet ski industry sells around 200,000 units per year and the total number of jet skis purchased worldwide tops 1.2 million.

According to the US Coast Guard, 10 percent of all boats on US waters are jet skis, but jet skis account for 36 percent of all boating accidents. Jet skis are involved in 40 percent of all boating-related injuries and 8 percent of all boating deaths, some of which are truly horrific.

Last year, a 13-year-old boy was decapitated in Colorado when his jet ski collided with a powerboat on Boyd Lake, and two sisters were killed on the Colorado River when they were run over by a drunken jet-skier.

Such incidents have led to a rash of state safety laws designed to regulate jet ski use. Many states do not regulate personal watercraft at all. California, which now permits 12-year-olds to operate jet skis, is considering raising the operating age to 16.

In response, high-paid industry lobbyists have descended upon local and state regulators, pressuring them to adopt bare-bones, industry-friendly regulations that would set a minimum age of 16 for jet ski operation, prohibit nighttime use and require an emergency shut-off switch for unmanned, out-of-control jet skis.

In addition to more stringent safety laws, jet ski critics are calling for "no-ski" buffer zones - to keep jet skiers a safe distance from shorelines, swimmers, divers and wildlife - and controls to alleviate noise, prevent wildlife harassment and reduce the pollution from two-stroke motors.

Water, Wilderness, Wildlife at Risk

According to the EPA, two-stroke engines are the main source of toxic water pollution in the US. Two-strokes run on a mixture of motor oil and gasoline, discharging as much as one-third of their fuel - unburned - into the water and air. This means an average two-hour ride on a jet ski dumps 2.5 gallons of unburned gas and oil into the water.

These unburned hydrocarbons float on the surface of lakes and rivers and settle in shallow ecosystems filled with sensitive marine life. Polluting such areas, says Swiss scientist Mark Bannan, can poison much of the complex food web. Jet skis pose a greater threat than other two-stroke vessels because they are capable of penetrating into shallow, remote areas where water and other wildlife are more sensitive to pollution.

A Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute study described how jet skis, which lack a low-frequency long-distance sound, fail to alert surfacing birds or mammals (including humans) of their approach until it's too late. In addition, the high-frequency sounds jet skis emit in both air and water startle birds. Scientists in New Jersey observed jet skis frightening ospreys and terns away from their nests, leaving their eggs exposed to predators.

California biologists have observed seal pups becoming separated from adults because of nearby jet ski activity. In Florida, endangered manatees have been run over by jet skis. In Hawaii, meanwhile, restrictions have been imposed on watercraft to protect humpback whales who come to the islands to give birth.

By enabling thrill-seekers to get close to wildlife, jet skis invite inappropriate contact with sea mammals. Last year, a tourist in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, was seen trying to drive his jet ski onto the back of a gray whale.

The National Parks and Conservation Association, an organization with more than half a million members, has launched a major campaign to ban jet skis from Olympic National Park. Meanwhile, Key West National Wildlife Refuge, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and Everglades and Yellowstone national parks already have banned jet skis.

Tahoe Bans Two-Strokes

On June 25, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) voted to ban all boats with conventional two-stroke engines - which includes jet skis - from Lake Tahoe, Echo Lake, Fallen Leaf Lake and their tributaries as of June 1, 1999.

This marks the first time that carbureted two-stroke motors have been banned anywhere in the US, and it sets a precedent that will have far-reaching implications. Tragically, the very day the TRPA implemented the ban, yet another 13-year-old boy was killed when his jet ski broadsided a powerboat on Lake Tahoe.

The TRPA made an allowance for watercraft with two-stroke engines that are modified to reduce pollutant output - those craft can continue to use the lakes, but the new regulations triple the no-wake zone, requiring the cleaner jet skis to stay far from the shore so as not to interfere with outdoor conversations. The modified jet skis will be prohibited from operating above 5 mph within 600 feet from the shore.

Bluewater Network's testimony (and its powerful video showing two-stroke pollution at work) helped to defeat a strong challenge of the TRPA rules by swarms of irate jet ski concessionaires and industry attorneys.

Proponents of the new regulations argued that four-stroke technology (which is 97 percent cleaner than two-stroke designs) has been available since 1972. In fact, Honda and Yamaha already market four-stroke engines.

The National Marine Manufacturers Association, however, claimed that the industry would be unable to retrofit jet skis with cleaner engines by the June 1999 deadline established by the TRPA. The manufacturing industry has promised to litigate.

After its Tahoe victory, Bluewater Network held a press conference to announce a set of lawsuits against more than a dozen rental concessionaires, whose two-stroke-powered boats are polluting California's drinking water.

What You Can Do: Consumers should demand that marine craft manufacturers install and sell four-stroke engines in their boats and jet skis. In addition, owners of two-stroke outboard motors and jet ski-type craft can make tax-deductible donations of their watercraft to Bluewater Network's scrapping program for recycling. Call (415) 788-3666, ext. 120. For more information, contact Bluewater Network, 300 Broadway, No. 28, San Francisco, CA 94103.