GROWLER LAKE PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION
BY-LAW 11 – INFORMATION SHEET
Preamble from GLPPOA By-Law 11:
WHEREAS it is known that Motorized Personal Watercraft have a significant negative environmental (noise, fuel
vapour emission, shore erosion, etc.) and biological (phototoxicity, etc.) impact, and that the involvement of
motorized personal watercraft in accidents resulting in injury and/or death is disproportionate to their use by the
boating population
Environmental:
 PWCs can get into very narrow and shallow spaces which can lead to:
 disturbance of sediment,
 destruction of aquatic habitat and plant life, and
 disturbance of or injury to birds, fish and animals.
 the suction and force of the jet-drive can cause damage to structures and injury to animals
 “exotic” species like zebra mussels and invasive plants can stow away in the jet drive.
 all older models and some newer models of personal watercraft use two-stroke engines, which
vent oil and gasoline into the water with their exhaust.
Personal Watercraft: Environmental Concerns,
How Stuff Works
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widespread use of PWCs has a significant impact on the environment due to the two stroke
engine; it is estimated that 20% to 25% of the fuel used in personal watercraft (two-stroke
engine) fail to combust and is flushed into the water as raw fuel vapour emission.
Two hours of exhaust emission from a jet-ski (two-stroke engine) is equivalent to the emissions
created by driving a 1998 automobile 130,000 miles. (Since 1998, improvements to reduce
hydrocarbon exhausted have reduced emissions by only 25%.)
The pollution emitted from PWCs has a considerable impact on wildlife. When unburned fuel is
released into the water, tiny organisms absorb the chemicals, causing phototocity; daylight sun
kills these organisms which causes a collapse of the food chain.
Personal Watercraft: Safety and Environmental Impact,
The University of Vermont, Vermont Legislative Research Shop, 1998
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The typical jet ski dumps an average of 3 gallons of gasoline directly in the water for every hour
of operation; jet skis release 8 times the amount of fuel as an equivalently horsepowered
motorboat.
According to the California Air Resources Board, a typical two-stroke thrillcraft (PWC) engine
produces as much harmful pollution in seven hours as a passenger car driven for 100,000 miles.
The newer four-stroke engines are not much better.
Noise pollution, or noise litter, is one of the major impacts of thrillcraft on other people. Studies
have shown that typical thrillcraft decibel levels are harmful to human ears and may also be
harmful to wildlife. Many wildlife species depend on hearing to detect predators, find prey,
find mates (as in bird song), and other critical biological functions.
http://www.stopthrillcraft.org/threat.htm
Safety:
Canadian
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Between 1991 and 2008, there were 2,572 recreational boating fatalities across Canada. PWCs
accounted for only 3% of all fatalities, 1% of immersion deaths and 25% of trauma deaths.
Of the 65 deaths resulting from a PWC accident during this period, traumatic incidents
accounted for more than half (34 deaths)
More than half (52%) of PWC fatalities resulted from collisions, mostly with other boats, and
32% resulted from falling overboard.
Life jackets were properly worn in only 39% of all PWC fatalities.
Alcohol was involved in more than half of all PWC fatalities.
Note: Transport Canada does not keep statistics on boating accidents, but in 2012 said it plans to start
tracking fatalities, injuries and regulatory violations to better understand safety issues on the water.
Boating immersion and Trauma Deaths in Canada,
Transportation Canada & Canadian Red Cross, 2011
American
 A total of 4,515 boating accidents were reported to the US Coast Guard in 2012, including 3,000
injuries and 651 deaths
 Compared to 1997, significant decrease were noted in the number of reported boating
accidents (44%), and resulting injuries (34%) and fatalities (21%)
 Alcohol (17%) was the most frequently reported primary contributing factor of boating accident
fatalities
 Inattentive operators (12%) and inexperienced operators (10%) were the two most frequently
reported primary contributing factor of boating accident injuries.
 Personal water craft accidents accounted for 25% of all reported accidents (1,111), 24% of all
reported injuries (721), but only 9% of all reported fatalities (58)
 According to a report on Personal Watercraft prepared by the Virginia Department of Game
and Inland Fisheries, that while PWCs were involved in a disproportionate number of boating
accidents (property damage and personal injury), they were less likely involved in a fatality; the
lower fatality rate is attributed to the legislated requirement to wear a US Coast Guard
approved lifejacket where as other boaters are only required to have lifejackets in the boat.
 Six in ten PWC accidents involved a collision with another recreational vessel; in most instances
the PWC operator was found to be at fault.
 The three most frequently reported primary contributing factors for PWC accidents were
operator inexperience (22%), operator inattention (19%) and excessive speed (14%)
 According to a study done by the National Transpiration Safety Board in 1998, the vast majority
(over 90%) of PWC accidents were caused by operator error.
 Overall, 70% of boating accident deaths were by drowning as compared to only 40% of deaths
resulting from a PWC accident; however, 47% of PWC accident deaths were the result of
trauma, most frequently head and spinal injuries, as compared to 16% of boating deaths
overall.
2012 Recreational Boating Statistics,
US Department of Homeland Security, US Coast Guard