(Wahpeton)– They’ve been lenient so far when it comes to enforcement of dock rules. But officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources say that’s about to change.
DNR Law Enforcement Bureau Chief Lowell Joslin says the agency is once again conducting compliance checks and that citations for non-compliance with dock rules will be mailed to dock owners beginning this week in the Iowa Great Lakes Area.
Joslin says similar efforts are about to take place on Clear Lake and in other areas of the state as well.
New dock rules went into effect in April of 2007. The DNR inspected existing docks in the Iowa Great Lakes and Clear Lake areas earlier this summer. Of some four thousand docks in the Iowa Great Lakes, the DNR says about a thousand are still out of compliance. Most don’t have the necessary permits and/or signage.
Rich Jordet, a DNR District Law Enforcement Supervisor, says most dock owners in the Iowa Great Lakes that will be getting citations had already been issued warnings.
