COEUR d’ALENE — The rising popularity of wakesurfing on Hayden Lake and other bodies of water in North Idaho has brought with it an economic boom, but lake health advocates warn that the activity comes with an environmental cost.

“It’s a wicked problem,” said Mary Ann Stoll, communication and public outreach manager at Hayden Lake Watershed Improvement District. “It’s bigger than Hayden Lake.”

Stoll and Gil Rossner, vice president of the Hayden Lake Watershed Association, addressed community members and fellow lake and river advocates Wednesday at the Iron Horse in downtown Coeur d’Alene. The pair discussed some of the challenges faced by Hayden Lake and what’s being done to overcome them.

Wakes created by boats have a ripple effect on the environment. For example, the turbulence of the wakes stirs up nutrients buried in the lakebed. Those nutrients feed the growth of aquatic plants, which eventually die and feed the growth of algae, such as cyanobacteria. Under certain conditions, this blue-green algae can produce toxins that affect human health and the environment.

“There’s a huge environmental impact,” Stoll said.

A number of solutions to the problem of excessive wakes have been proposed, including education campaigns, increased enforcement of laws prohibiting excessive wakes and changes to existing laws to make them stricter. But Stoll said the issue is bigger than any single approach.

“Together, through a multi-pronged approach, changes can happen,” she said.

Rossner said the Hayden Lake Watershed Association has taken a creative approach to educating the public about Kootenai County’s 200-foot no-wake rule, as well as the environmental impact of wakes. For instance, the group worked to identify the owners of short-term rentals around the lake and prepared materials that homeowners can distribute to guests.

The group has also posted signs around the lake, urging boaters to “keep your wake in the middle of the lake” and reduce damage to the shoreline.

“We need to get the message out in as many ways as possible,” Rossner said.

Lake advocacy organizations are also working alongside the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office marine patrol to enforce wake zone rules. Marine deputies tend to prefer education for boaters who violate the rules over issuing tickets, Rossner said.

The Hayden Lake Watershed Association maintains on its website a boat wake incident registry where those affected by dangerous and/or damaging wakes can report what happened.

The association uses this information to assess the effectiveness of the existing no-wake limits and shares the information with the sheriff’s office to help identify areas where a larger marine patrol presence may be needed.

Rossner said the association is working to create an app so community members can more easily make reports.

Stoll said current efforts to combat damaging wakes, including public education campaigns, are making a difference.

“Things are better, but they’re not yet done,” she said. “Wake damage is still happening.”