Boat management plan for Tapps is proceeding

Published 12:47 pm Thursday, December 11, 2008

By Dennis Box

The Courier-Herald

A boat management plan for Lake Tapps is beginning to take form after many hours of work by the Lake Tapps Boat Management Team.

Members of the team held an informational meeting Dec. 1 at the Sumner High School Performing Arts Center. After the meeting, the team handed out a questionnaire to gather input from those in attendance on the key issues included in the plan.

The team intends to gather information from the questionnaire and the research they have completed during the last five months to write a plan which will be presented to the Pierce County Council.

"This is a combination of responsibilities with funding needs and regulatory needs," Pierce County Councilman Shawn Bunney said. "This is a public issue, not just about people living on the lake."

The boat management plan is a crucial piece of the puzzle to save Lake Tapps.

Along with the plan, Puget Sound Energy, which owns the lake, is trying to secure the consumptive water rights to the lake and eventually sell them to Cascade Water Alliance, an eastside water purveyor.

The main points of the boat management plan include rafting parties, boater education, noise, speed of vessels on the water, alcohol use and law enforcement on the lake.

According to Pierce County Sheriff's Deputy Jerry Lawrence from the Marine Service Unit, most citations on the lake are related to alcohol.

Russ Larson, a member of the team, said last year one boat jumped another going about 50 mph. Both boats were destroyed and three people were injured. Alcohol was believed to be a factor.

Law enforcement on the lake is difficult because of funding and manpower.

All patrols on the lake are done by officers working overtime, after their regular shift.

Pierce County generally sends out one boat with two officers and patrols between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.

The Bonney Lake Police Department patrols the Church Lake area, also with one boat and two officers.

"Law enforcement on the lake is difficult," Larson said. "But how do we get more money to deal with these problems?"

Money for law enforcement is one of the thorny issues the team will try to address, and eventually the county council must decide.

"Once the package is together we can look at how to deliver on it," Bunney said. "Just throwing money isn't all of the solution. How this fits together is a much larger conversation. "

Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald.