4.2G – Operation and Maintenance – Boat Operation
Management Measure
Restrict boating activities where necessary to decrease turbidity and physical destruction of shallow-water habitat.
Prevent erosion of shorelines and stream channels by reducing boat wake.
Management Practices
For Marina Owners and Operators
- Restrict boater traffic in shallow-water areas. Put signs up near sensitive areas of your marina or give boaters maps that indicate where boats should be operated with caution to avoid environmental harm.
- Mark seagrass beds and other sensitive areas with signs. Survey these areas annually (since they can grow and expand) to ensure you have them marked correctly.
For Boaters
- Respect no-wake zones and speed limits. They are posted to protect the environment and other boaters.
- Familiarize yourself with the underwater environment where you will be boating so you can anticipate and avoid sensitive environmental areas, like seagrass beds and coral reefs. Ask the marina or a local conservation organization for maps that show these areas.
- Ask marina operators and local authorities to post signs in the water that indicate where boaters should not go to avoid damaging the environment.
Information Resources
- Critical Coastal Areas (CCA) Program is an innovative program to foster collaboration among local stakeholders and government agencies, to better coordinate resources and focus efforts on coastal watersheds in critical need of protection from polluted runoff. A multi-agency statewide CCA Committee has identified an initial list of 101 CCAs along the coast and in San Francisco Bay.
- SWRCB pamphlet contains information on the Areas of Special Biological Significance, including legal descriptions, maps, and applicable Board resolutions, including exceptions. The document presented is the June 2003 publication, with electronic revisions as of October 2003. For a black and white hard copy of this document, contact Dominic Gregorio, Ocean Standards Unit, Division of Water Quality.
References
USEPA. 2001. National Management Measures Guidance to Control Nonpoint Source Pollution from Marinas and Recreational Boating. EPA 841-B-01-005. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC. Retrieved on March 16, 2008 from http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/mmsp/index.html