Boat Wakes and Shoreline Erosion

There is a great deal of information in the literature about shoreline erosion and sedimentation. The number of scenarios is equally as large. In this note I would like to focus on shoreline erosion and sedimentation issues pertaining to Deep Creek Lake.

There is a lot of misinformation and unscientific conclusions on what’s going on. I’m presenting here my thoughts on the mechanisms and possible solutions.

Erosion and subsequent sedimentation are inevitable. It’s nature’s way. All forms of weather conspire to breakup soil and solid rock and transport the resulting debris to downstream locations. The timing of these happenings may be in short order or occur over a very long time.

The reference material that I have collected over time on shoreline erosion and sedimentation will be presented separately because it is a time consuming task. For now I would like to focus on my understanding of what’s going on at Deep Creek Lake.

It’s often assumed that the primary cause of shoreline erosion is the effects of boat wakes. Yes, they do have an impact, but I believe that wind and unprotected shorelines are the culprit.

A simple piece of evidence to this effect is the work by Catalin Demian in her masters thesis, published in 2007. Shoreline erosion was identified from aerial photography of the norther arm of the lake going towards the dam from the years 1938, 1962 and 1998, years before the extensive boat traffic we see today. They showed significant shoreline erosion that can only be attributed to the effects of the wind. Catalin Demian's Masters Thesis.

The STAC Review Report, published in the Fall 2016, reviews boat wake wave impacts on shoreline erosion for the Chesapeake Bay. In the report it states: “

The data was only Two studies seem appropriate to make the point. The first one is