14.0°
Comments (1)Turning Blue Over Blue Boating
Marinas question if TRPA's new program is the answer to streamlining watercraft inspections
By Melissa SiigPublished: May 14, 2010
The cost of admission to boat on Lake Tahoe just got more expensive.
Or less expensive, depending on how you look at it.
These two different perspectives are what have local marina operators concerned that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s new Blue Boating program — which subsumes the aquatic invasive species inspection program implemented last year, tacks on clean boating requirements, and changes the fee schedule — will confuse boaters. The TRPA says its new program is designed to reduce confusion and create cost savings for boaters. But marina operators worry that the change may be perceived as a cost hike and deter boaters already pinched by the economy from visiting Tahoe.
More Boats on the Lake
Boating at Tahoe has been steadily increasing over the last 30 years. From 1977 to 1997, boating increased 30 percent. Except for a decline over the last two years due to the recession, the TRPA expects this trend to continue for the next 20 years.
“We needed to take action,” said TRPA Community Liaison Jeff Cowen. “We needed to make sure that boating continued in a responsible way without any impacts.”
A decade ago, the agency started discussing a clean boating program. But disagreements over shorezone policy stalled any implementation. Then, in 2007, quagga mussels were discovered in Nevada’s nearby Lake Mead. These mollusks, which pose serious ecological and environmental dangers to any lake, are impossible to exterminate for good once they have infiltrated a body of water.
“This became an emergency threat we had to react to,” Cowen said.
In 2008, the agency implemented an aquatic invasive species (AIS) watercraft inspection program. Initially, the inspections were free and voluntary, but after six months became mandatory. When grant money for the program ran out, the agency initiated a fee in 2009 to help pay for inspectors. The fee ranged from $10 to $60, depending on boat size. If people only boated on Lake Tahoe, it was a one-time fee. However, any time an inspection seal was broken from boating on another lake, the craft would require re-inspection and its owner had to pay the fee again.
TRPA’s Solution: Blue Boating
With the adoption of the agency’s new shorezone policy in 2008 and watercraft inspections in place, the TRPA spent the next year crafting its Blue Boating program. Though there are two inspection programs under the Blue Boating umbrella — one for aquatic invasive species and another for clean boating (which includes checking for properly tuned engines, leak-proof sewage systems, and noise regulation compliance) — the TRPA hopes that the new program, in which boaters can get both inspections done at the same time, will feel like one.
“We don’t want to see inspections become a burden on boaters,” Cowen said. “We are trying so hard to make this seamless.”
This year, all boats are required to get a Blue Boating certification and sticker. The one-time fee ranges from $20 to $60 for Tahoe Only boats (depending on horsepower), or boats that still have an intact AIS inspection seal from last year. The average boat will cost $30 to $40, about the same as 2009. Tahoe In and Out boats, or those that use other lakes during the year, are the ones that will find significant cost savings with the new program, Cowen said. Instead of paying a fee for each Tahoe launch, these boats will pay a one-time, annual fee ranging from $30 to $125, depending on vessel length and horsepower, with the average boat paying $65 to $75. The sticker includes unlimited AIS inspections for the year.
“A boater never has to pay more than once unless they upgrade,” said Cowen, referring to a boater who needs to switch from Tahoe Only to Tahoe In and Out.
Fears Over Fees
Marina operators, however, worry that the Blue Boating program is not as cut and dry as the TRPA makes it seem. Many are already fielding phone calls from angry customers.
“People had a fee last year that was tangible; they got it — they understood the severity of the quagga mussels,” said Obexer’s Boat Company owner Sarah Obexer-Fields. “The Blue Boating program is a little bit more obscure to the general public.”
Obexer-Fields said that many of her customers perceive the program as an additional fee, the last thing they want to pay in a down economy.
“I appreciate and understand it, but to people coming up for three days to be assessed a fee of $30 to $45, it’s hard to swallow,” she said. “To pay for AIS, on top of Blue Boating, on top of a ramp fee, it’s $100 just to get on the lake.”
Jim Phelan, Tahoe City Marina general manager, agrees.
“I think the Blue Boating program is highly misunderstood by most people, who don’t understand why they are doing it,” he said. “Customers think it’s another tax, which they are getting really tired of these days.”
Both Obexer-Fields and Phelan said they have spent a lot of time on the phone trying to assuage customer’s fury over the program and educate them on its purpose. Obexer’s took a proactive approach, sending out mailings and emails to all of its customers, and informing any caller about the program. But, says Obexer-Fields, usually the reaction is one of dismay.
“They usually sigh and say ‘Are you kidding me? Another fee? Why didn’t they do it last year?’” she said.
Obexer-Fields believes the Blue Boating program will definitely lead to a decline in boating this summer. North Tahoe Marina dock operator Harry King doesn’t think his customer base will be impacted by the fees, but he worries that the program could inadvertently turn boating at Tahoe into an exclusive club.
“A lot of our boat owners are in the top five percent income-wise, so a lot will be willing to pay $40 or whatever,” he said. “But it will affect those with a limited budget and who spend a big portion of their discretionary income on boating.”
King also questions whether it’s fair to make boaters pay for pollution mitigation when they are only causing a small fraction of it. The TRPA’s 2006 shorezone environmental impact statement found that boats are responsible for 3 percent of particulates in the lake.
“That’s a big chunk of money to be taking from people who are only contributing 3 percent,” he said.
In the big picture, boaters are actually only paying a small portion of the inspection program. Last year, the AIS program cost $600,000, but inspection fees only brought in $130,000, less than one-third of the costs.
“Tahoe is an outstanding national resource, and all boaters have a commitment to wisely use it and partake in the stewardship program,” said TRPA’s Cowen. “Boaters are only paying a small share of the program but they are getting all the benefits — they to get to keep boating on Lake Tahoe. We would have to close it if we can’t protect it.”
Blue Boating info and fees: trpa.org.
1 Reader Comment so far ...