(Centerville)– The Iowa Natural Resources Commission Thursday approved a 25-mile-per-hour speed limit for all boats on the Iowa Lakes…including all Dickinson county lakes. The limit would be in effect from a half-hour after sunset to sunset. The proposal must still be approved by a legislative rules panel.
Lake Delhi near Manchester is the only other lake in Iowa that has a nighttime speed limit–it’s 10 miles-per-hour.
The 25-mile-per-hour nighttime limit for Dickinson county lakes has caused concern from some who say it should be more like 30 miles-per-hour. Others say it should be even lower than the 25 mile-per-hour proposal. Still others wonder if the DNR will have the manpower to enforce it.
A hit-and-run boat crash last August on West Lake Okoboji that claimed the life of Perry dentist Dr. Michael Brosnahan and seriously injured his wife is what instigated the new limit. It resulted in the East Okoboji Lakes Improvement Corporation petitioning the state for a nighttime limit.
The new limit will go in effect May 3rd if final approval is granted by the legislative rules committee.
Copyright GCI all rights reserved. Unauthorized publication or broadcast of this material is stritly prohibited.
