CHANNEL RULES MEANT TO SATISFY DISTRICT

Regulations slowing boats on the Headwaters Diversion Channel may not be popular with sportsmen but may be necessary to keep the channel open for recreational use.

The Little River Drainage District, which owns and manages the channel, raised concerns about erosion stemming from wakes caused by boats on the channel. In response, the Missouri Department of Conservation, which leases a public boat ramp on the channel, approved a rule mandating that boats travel at no-wake speeds.

"We think the Diversion Channel offers a good fishery and we appreciate the fact that the Little River Drainage District provides the opportunity for us to provide access for fishermen," said Ken Babcock, an assistant director with the conservation department. "We also recognize that the drainage district has the primary responsibility of providing drainage for farmers in the area."

Some fisherman who frequent the waterway are unhappy with the restriction, which took effect Monday. They are circulating a petition asking the department for changes.

The petition calls for allowing small boats powered by 10-horsepower or smaller motors to travel at top speeds upstream from the boat ramp, which is just east of Interstate 55. Under the proposed changes, boats with larger motors would be forbidden upstream and still restricted to no-wake speeds downstream to the confluence of the Mississippi River.

Larry Dowdy, executive vice president of the LRDD, said his organization recommended that option when it asked for conservation department action.

Babcock said that option was bypassed because it would limit channel access. Also, he said different rules at different points on the channel could be confusing and difficult to enforce.

"The decision was, I recall, that to restrict boats of 10 horsepower or above access from that point would basically close that part of the channel to fishermen with larger motors on the boat," Babcock said.

The conservation department's lease for the boat ramp, which was built in 1985 at a cost of $186,000, expires Dec. 31, 1998.

"We would not have passed that regulation if we had not been under the threat of cancellation of our lease with the Little River Drainage District," Babcock said. "We did not think that would be good because this is a good fishery and we have a pretty large capital investment in that area."

Lease renewal will depend on how the situation develops.

"I feel confident my board will not renew that lease with the conservation commission if things continue to go the way things have been going," Dowdy said.

The erosion problem and the role of boats was established through observation, Dowdy said. Floodwaters, he added, contributed little since flooded areas have little or no current. "If you haven't got moving water, you will not have any erosion," Dowdy said.

Waves from boats, he said, are a problem, regardless of the size of the craft.

The channel is privately owned and maintained by a special tax on the property owners it serves. Recreational uses, Dowdy said, are secondary to its drainage purposes.