SANDPOINT — The public was handed a radioactive potato on Thursday.

The Bonner County Waterways Advisory Committee voted to form a citizen’s committee to tackle the issue of damaging boat wakes. The move follows mounting pressure on Bonner County’s elected and appointed officials to address the problem of boat wakes damaging docks and the vessels attached to them, in addition to eroding shoreline.

Waterfront landowners have called on the county to prohibit wake boats, which gives operators the ability to customize the size and shape of wakes, on the Pend Oreille River and constricted areas on Priest Lake. The waterways board, however, has declined to implement wake boat regulations and opted for a public information campaign that urged wake board operators to utilize the main bodies of lakes and to avoid shorelines.

The effectiveness of “Ride the Core/Avoid the Shore” campaign, however, is disputed. Some contend the message has gotten through to boaters, while other insist it has not.

“The fact is that it doesn’t work,” Pend Oreille River resident Richard Cramer said. “We as property owners need to be protected.”

Cramer said damaging wakes have caused some $6,000 worth of damage on his property. Wakes have ripped his boat from its moorings and sent it adrift in the river.

Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler appealed to county commissioners to prohibit wake boats from using the Pend Oreille River because of damage to shorelines, docks and boats. But Commissioner Dan McDonald advised the waterways board on Thursday that the board would only act on a recommendation advanced by the advisory committee.

At least one member of the committee concluded it was high time the county put its hands on the issue of wake boats. Keith Scheckler called oversized wakes a form of pollution.

“This is getting to be a bigger problem over time, no pun intended,” said Scheckler.

But as the board went about setting up a workshop to discuss the issue in finer detail, other members concluded that the waterways committee had already made its recommendation when it opted for the education-and-enforcement campaign.

“We already made that recommendation. We already made that decision,” said board member Molly McCahon.

Committee member Ed Jochum agreed. He said the committee is well-versed in complaints by the public and pressed it to provide solutions instead.

“We’re going over the same issues,” said Jochum.

Opponents of wake boats said the county can simply use its authority prohibit them, although others counter that it’s more complex than that. McDonald said a blanket ban of a legal activity on public water would likely have ramifications.

“If we were to flat-out ban it on the river, we would have attorneys for all these wakeboard boat manufacturers lined up at our doorstep,” said McDonald.

However, McDonald said defensible rules could likely be made for prohibiting them in specific areas.

Still, some are unconvinced the county would actually be subject to litigation and contend the county’s reluctance to address damaging wakes effectively prioritizes outside industry interests over the interests of those who live here and pay property taxes.

Ricky Krieger, a professional wakeboarder whose livelihood is sustained by the water sports industry, said wake enthusiasts are being unfairly portrayed as the prime offenders of the county’s 200-foot no-wake rule. He admits wake boats can emit powerful waves.

“But they’re no more powerful than a 20-foot boat at 10 feet of the shoreline,” said Krieger, who added that the water sports industry has spent millions of dollars proving that 200- to 250-foot no-wake zones are effective when observed by boaters.

McDonald urged the committee to form a diverse subcommittee comprised of landowners and motorized water sports enthusiasts to parse through the issue.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.