The record-high water levels on the Detroit River has the Windsor Port Authority calling for boaters to cool it or take it elsewhere.
The port authority has met with the City of Windsor and other municipalities last week to discuss barring all motorized boats from operating near shore, due to the continued high water. Complaints have been received about speeding watercraft causing large wakes along the Windsor-Essex shoreline, flooding banks and damaging lakefront property.
Peter Berry, Port Windsor's harbourmaster, told BlackburnNewsWindsor.com they are in talks with Windsor, LaSalle and Amherstburg on a tougher ban on boat use near the shore. He said it's all because of the water.
"It's not necessarily poor action by the boaters, it's the fact that we have high water at historical levels," said Berry. "The boaters going by and waking the property is only exacerbating the problem."
The Town of LaSalle has already asked boaters to be careful with their speed while near the shoreline.
"Currently, the legislation reads that you have to be less than ten knots or about 13 or 14 kilometres per hour within 30 metres of the shoreline," said Berry. "What the request is to have no vessel come close to the shoreline at this point."
Berry said Windsor City Council has passed a resolution allowing Port Windsor to approach Transport Canada with their plan. It must clear the federal government before being put into place.
The port authority's main priority when it comes to solving this problem is education. Berry said it serves no purpose to ruin boaters' fun by being aggressive and handing out a lot of citations.
"I think going out and doing power enforcement, going after boaters looking to ticket and seize their voyages, is not really what we're looking to do," said Berry. "We're looking for respect from boaters of the property owners, of the commercial entities along the waterway."
Berry said he was hoping for the request to be approved by Transport Canada within the next day or so.