High waters might pose some big problems
Hidden docks, wakes risk to boaters, property
High waters from heavy rains have swamped and submerged docks in some Orange County lakes, posing crash dangers to unsuspecting pleasure boaters and tourists riding rented Jet Skis or other personal watercraft.
State law limits the authority of local governments on waterways, but Orange County commissioner Betsy Vanderley hoped to bring attention to the potential risks with a public discussion Tuesday.
Her west Orange district includes the Butler Chain of Lakes in the Windermere area and Big Sand Lake in the county’s tourist corridor, areas where lake water levels are higher than normal.
In a memo asking for a discussion of possible remedies, Vanderley said she considered the issues “a health and safety matter.”
“As you are likely aware, we’ve experienced an unusual amount of rainfall the first half of this year, which has resulted in significantly high lake levels throughout District 1,” she said in the memo obtained by the Orlando Sentinel. “This has put many docks under water and has also spurred concern regarding watercraft wakes
Windermere Mayor Gary Bruhn urged commissioners in 2004 to take action, noting that even small wakes from speedboats threatened to push flood waters onto patios and into homes.
impacting personal property and potentially homes.”
She wanted to encourage lakeside residents to flag submerged docks and hoped boaters would slow down near shorelines.
“Maybe we can get the word out,” Vanderley said, uncertain if the county could mandate either suggestion.
Through less than nine months this year, the Windermere area has recorded 48 inches of rain, said Peggy Glitto, a National Weather Service meteorologist, citing figures compiled by a weather observer who provides data to the agency.
The average annual rainfall at Orlando International Airport is 50.73 inches.
West Orange has gotten 11 more inches of rain through August this year than usual, she said.
Elected in 2016, Vanderley said that she worries about tourists and other visitors who may be unfamiliar with the lakes zooming across the water on the rented watercraft unaware of what’s lurking below the surface. “They don’t know where people’s docks are if those docks are underwater,” she said.
In October 2004, after hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne doused the region with record rains, Orange County commissioners explored a proposal to impose temporary restrictions for boaters on the Butler chain by creating a “nowake” zone.
Vanderley said a similar strategy could help now.
“Some homes are close enough to the water and, when people go by in wakeboarding boats, the water is washing up into people’s yards,” she said. “The concern is it could wash into people’s homes.”
Windermere Mayor Gary Bruhn urged commissioners in 2004 to take action, noting that even small wakes from speedboats threatened to push flood waters onto patios and into homes.
He toured the lakes last week with Vanderley and Dan O’Keefe, a member and former chairman of the South Florida Water Management District, which has authority for flood control in an area that includes southwest Orange County.
Bruhn also emailed Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs, who held Vanderley’s commission post in 2004.
“You will recall that you and I experienced this 14 years ago after three hurricanes and shockingly our lake levels are near those historic levels now,” he said in the email. “What concerns me more is that we have not hit the peak hurricane season and just one storm will put us even higher than those levels. It was back then that we asked the Commissioners to declare no wake zones as there were properties and homes that were in jeopardy with a large wake.
“And now … we have boats that are designed to do one thing: produce huge wakes for wake boarding.”
Commissioner Pete Clarke, whose district includes Lake Conway and other popular aquatic venues, said he has had some success by asking boating groups to be considerate when lake water levels are high.
But some people just like to make waves.