Confusion over boating policies at Eagle Creek

INDIANAPOLIS — Some boaters say the city of Indianapolis is all of sudden are deciphering the guidelines at Eagle Creek Reservoir in another way, after forty years. Boaters say it’s miles keeping boats out of the water and on dry land.

“They might now not allow us at the lake Thursday,” Jerry Cooper, a fisherman, said. “The park ranger said if I put my boat at the lake, they could arrest me and confiscate my boat and trailer.”

Boaters say for several many years they have got been allowed to take their boats with large automobiles of greater than ten horsepower into Eagle Creek as long as they failed to turn them on, and alternatively used a smaller, less powerful engine. That rule is on books and is posted around the waterway.

Brian Waldman, a longtime fisherman, says the manner that rule is being interpreted has recently changed. It’s probably due to boats with massive engines taking advantage and going too fast. Waldman says while he first heard of the brand new crackdown, he desired to comply, so he spent almost $2,000 on a new smaller engine. But even after his efforts, park rangers grew to become him away.

“When I showed up on the ramp with my six-horse this year, I turned into instructed, because I even have a 40-horse on my boat, that I can not even get on with the kicker horse,” Waldman stated. “And unnecessary to mention I wasn’t pleased and neither are my friends after spending that kind of cash.”

In an assertion, the Department of Resources stated:

“Given Indy Parks’ present-day interpretation of the municipal code at Eagle Creek, DNR might be taking a look at how this problem affects anglers’ capacity to make use of the reservoir. To be top stewards of the resource, as well as the revenue generated from fishing licenses, angler participation charges are a consideration while planning future stocking efforts.”

Indy Parks didn’t cope with the direct worries of the boaters; however, they did cite a city ordinance banning boats prepared with engines larger than ten-horse electricity from getting into Eagle Creek.

“Eagle Creek Park and Eagle Creek Reservoir provide lovely natural areas for the Indianapolis community and site visitors to explore. Since the late Seventies, Ordinance 341-204 has confined motorboats with cars exceeding 10-horsepower or any boat exceeding 26-feet in period or smaller than 8-ft in duration from operating at the Reservoir. The ordinance tries to lessen issues with excessive velocity ranges in areas where greater passive use and lower velocity endeavor takes place.

In the previous few years, our team has worked with park visitors to make sure the ordinance suggestions aren’t handiest being observed, but also to make sure that we solution questions about pace limits on the reservoir. From sailboats and kayaks to fishing and different recreational makes use of, we want Eagle Creek Reservoir to be a space for all citizens to revel in.”