HomeMy WebLinkAbout1A Work Session Report Prior Lake Boat Diversity Findings1
Phone 952.447.9800 / Fax 952.447.4245 / www.cityofpriorlake.com
4646 Dakota Street SE
Prior Lake, MN 55372
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION REPORT
MEETING DATE: JUNE 3, 2019
AGENDA #: 1A
PREPARED BY: XANDER SMABY, MNCAPS STUDENT
PRESENTED BY: XANDER SMABY, MNCAPS STUDENT
AGENDA ITEM: PRIOR LAKE BOAT DIVERSITY FINDINGS
ACTION REQUESTED: Review and Discuss…
INTRODUCTION: The data on boat registration came from the DNR and included all of Scott County.
The data goes back six years and shows trends over that time. The purpose of this
data is to see what changes have occurred, are on the horizon, and to understand
what policies changes could fix possible conflicts.
This year there will be 9,636 registered watercraft that will have primary use in the
City of Prior Lake. Those 9,636 watercrafts make up about 63% of all boats in Scott
County. (see pg. 2) Over the last 6 years the amount of boats has been increased at
around 200 boats per year. Creating the average growth rate to be 2%.
The largest category of watercraft is Open Motor Boats. Open Motor Boats make up
52% or 5,064 of all boats on Prior Lake. Most categories of watercraft stick to the 2%
increase per year but as you can see on (pg. 3), some watercraft go over. Wake
Boats are Open Motor Boats with a length greater than 21 feet. Wake Boats are an
extremely small portion of the boats on the water but as you can see in the charts
Wake Boats are beginning to increase at a drastic rate of 11% per year. Another
change that is occurring is the increased rate of non-motorized boats. This includes
Kayaks, Canoes, and Paddle Boards. Each of these types of watercrafts have seen
an increase of around 5% each year; however, I feel this number is vastly incorrect.
With the requirement of size there is a large amount of underreporting in this
category, (see pg.8). With the large increase in both large wake boats and small
non-motorized watercraft there could be a potential conflict on the lake due to small
water craft taking over.
Over the last 6 years the average length of watercraft has not changed from 17 feet;
however, the variance of the number has increased. This would suggest that, each
individual boat is further away from average. This could possibly be caused by larger
quantities of small craft and larger length of Wake Boats, (see pg. 7)
For a more accurate representation of the changes in diversity of watercraft on the
lake, there should be a new report that dives into the 1990’s. An example of how
Prior Lake compares to another lake would also give insight on next steps.
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