SANDPOINT — Amid conversation about a proposed amendment to the county’s waterskiing safety regulations to reflect House Bill 887, Bonner County Marine Division officials will regulate waters based on the state regulations until the county can determine if they’re legally allowed to impose stricter guidelines.  

At Tuesday’s meeting, Marine Patrol Lt. Doug McGeachy shared that he directed his marine deputies to enforce state code, which does not require an observer on the boat during specific hours of the day. McGeachy said he moved forward in that direction because it was the least restrictive, until he obtains a legal opinion on whether the county can enforce stricter county regulations.  

“I personally am not in favor of the legislative change. I think that coming off a season where we had three fatalities and increased boating traffic, and essentially considering this is in relation to other things that we would consider with distractions, I don’t think that this is a great policy (H.B. 887),” McGeachy said. 

He further indicated that it would be difficult for a driver to effectively drive a boat, maintain situational awareness “in the 360-degree environment,” along with watching a mirror and observing a skier constantly.  

“If the skier were to go down, the question is, is the driver looking in the mirror to see that, or are they paying attention to where they're going? Are there boating traffic in the area, logs, obstructions, obstacles, all those things,” McGeachy said. “I think when we tax people's ability to perform multiple tasks at once, we create potential for accidents to rise. That's why we have distracted driving laws and collision avoidance systems in cars. We've done a lot on the roadways to try to minimize some of those issues, but not so much on the waterways.” 

The conversation stems from an agenda item brought forth by Commissioner Ron Korn during a June 16 business meeting, where he suggested amending Bonner County’s waterskiing regulations to reflect language passed by H.B. 887. 

The bill, which was sponsored by Rep. Mark Sauter, R-Sandpoint, removes language from Idaho Code that requires water-skiers to have at least one other person in the boat acting as an observer, assisting a person on water skis or other similar activities, so long as operations are occurring in a regulation legal and permitted slalom course, or between one hour before sunrise and 9 a.m. from May 15 through September 10 of each year, or at any time of day from September 11 through May 14 of each year, according to the code.   

If there is no observer, the vessel in operation must have a large mirror that is firmly mounted in a position that would allow the operator to face forward while observing the person being towed at all times. 

County code requires that an observer be in the boat while an individual is being towed.  

During the June 16 discussion, commissioners tabled the conversation to allow time for the county’s marine division to provide input on the matter. 

To allow time for McGeachy to receive a legal opinion from the county’s prosecutor’s office, commissioners unanimously agreed to adopt the state’s new language about waterskiing safety through Oct. 1, 2026, or unless a resolution is brought forth sooner by the Bonner County marine division.