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July 29, 2025

Lake ecosystem health declines as acoustic sensors track underwater powerboat disturbances

Credit: University of Minnesota
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Credit: University of Minnesota

Large surface waves produced by powerboats are a mainstay for recreational watersports. A new study from the University of Minnesota shows that beneath the surface, factors such as propeller thrust and other types of waves can impact delicate lakebed ecosystems.

Researchers at the University's St. Anthony Falls Laboratory built on previous research to study the effects of powerboats on lake ecosystems over the 2022 and 2023 field seasons. The team placed acoustic-based sensors that measured pressure and velocities through the and at the lake bottom at two different locations and at two different depths. They also collected and data on various water quality parameters.

The researchers tested seven recreational powerboats commonly used in Minnesota's lakes and rivers based on their two most-used settings. For non-wakeboats: displacement mode/leisure cruise and planing mode/cruising. For wakeboats: semi-displacement mode/surfing and cruising. The boats were driven directly over the measurement sensors five times for each operational condition.

Credit: University of Minnesota

The study, published in the University Digital Conservancy, found:

Credit: St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota.
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Credit: St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota.

"For all motorized boats, simply being careful about where you steer your boat and avoiding shallow spots can make a huge difference," said Jeff Marr, co-author on the study and associate director of engineering and facilities at the St. Anthony Falls Lab in the College of Science and Engineering.

"Staying in when you're out on the water—especially when wakeboarding or surfing—is an easy and effective way to enjoy and protect our waterways. Also, give space between your boat and other boaters and the shoreline."

Fieldwork for the final phase of the research will conclude in fall 2025. This project phase will examine how wind-driven waves differ from wake waves produced by recreational boats, including their impacts on the lake environment.

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More information: A Field Study of Recreational Powerboat Hydrodynamics and their Impacts on the Water Column and Lakebed:

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Acoustic sensor data indicate that all recreational powerboats generate water currents and turbulence that disturb lakebeds, with wakeboats causing stronger turbulence capable of resuspending sediments and releasing nutrients such as phosphorus, which can promote algal blooms. Operating powerboats in water depths of at least 3 m and wakeboats in at least 6 m during surfing minimizes ecological impacts.

This summary was automatically generated using LLM.