After pondering a proposed water elevation that would trigger a no-wake regulation on Echo Lake, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission ended up declining to adopt any new rules for the lake on Thursday.

The commission had been petitioned by a group of property owners on the lake to establish several new regulations.

One would create a permanent no-wake zone on Causeway Bay. Another would prohibit wake-enhancing ballast equipment on boats used by wake boarders. And another would establish a no-wake rule during high water that would apply to Echo Lake and its smaller sister lakes, Abbott and Peterson lakes.

A hearing in February attracted many outright opponents of the measures who contended the rules would impact property values and encroach on traditional recreational activities.

As a result, Region One Warden Captain Lee Anderson gave a presentation Thursday outlining the agency’s recommendations for the commission. He recommended eliminating the Causeway Bay and wake-enhancing equipment proposals and adjusting the definition of “high water” conditions that would prompt a no-wake rule.

The original proposal was that high water would be declared if the lake level rose within five feet of a survey pin on the Causeway Road. Anderson recommended that trigger elevation be two feet below the survey pin.

Asked how that elevation was arrived at, Anderson said it was because that was the elevation that prompted an emergency no-wake rule on the lake in 2011 that was requested by the Flathead County commissioners.

The petitioners sought the new rules mainly to prevent shoreline erosion from waves caused by boats, but also to reduce user conflicts on the lake. They said there were similar high-water conditions on the lake in 2012, but a no-wake rule was not adopted, and they claimed that shoreline erosion was more severe as a result.

However, only one petition backer spoke during Thursday’s hearing, with people testifying in Helena and in Kalispell via teleconference.

Several regulation opponents said the 5-foot mark and the 2-foot mark were arbitrarily set, and some said both elevations had the potential to trigger no-wake zones on the lake too often.

They again pointed out that a lake-wide no-wake rule would have an impact on the marketability of the lake’s waterfront properties.

Anderson said that since 2001, there has been a no-wake rule on the lake applying to watercraft when they are within 200 feet of the shoreline. Anderson said wardens will have a more visible presence on the lake starting this year and enforcement of that rule will be a priority.

Multiple people said they want to see the rule vigorously enforced, plus more education and outreach, particularly with people who don’t live on the lake and may not be familiar with rules on the water.

Some said that property owners on the lake have a responsibility to use riprap or other methods to protect their shorelines, and it was mentioned that if preventing damage to the Causeway Road from high water is a priority, then the road should be raised and reinforced.

The commissioners offered praise to Fish, Wildlife and Parks staff for trying to broker some kind of compromise, and at the end of the hearing a motion was made to establish a focus group to continue working on the matter over the next year.

The motion provided that if no alternative consensus was reached, the high-water rule, as defined by two feet below the survey pin, would take effect May 1, 2014.

The motion failed on a 2-2 vote, so no new rules were developed for the lake after a public process that has been underway since last September.

Commissioner Dan Vermillion remarked: “I’ve been on the commission for seven years and it seems like every year Echo Lake comes up.”

“We have spent scores of hours on this process,” Region One Supervisor Jim Satterfield said after the hearing. He noted that hundreds of written comments were received, the vast majority opposing new regulations.

“In the near future, I don’t see the point in proceeding” with renewed proposals for regulations on Echo Lake, Satterfield said. “I think we heard it loud and clear from the vast majority of the public that they don’t want a regulation out there of any sort, period.”