Let’s be honest and consistent about our policies regarding jet skis.
Personal watercraft, popularly known as jet skis, have been banned from Anderson Lake in Morgan Hill for the past six years due to concerns about MTBE, a gasoline additive. Now that MTBE is no longer added to gasoline, county and water district officials are considering lifting the ban.
But officials made no decision after a recent public meeting that featured jet ski enthusiasts butting heads with Holiday Lake Estates residents and environmentalists.
Neighbors of Anderson Lake complain that the jet skis are loud and they haven’t missed the noise echoing off the hillsides since the personal water craft ban was implemented. Environmentalists said that jet skis are bad for the environment and urged the ban be continued.
Let’s be clear: Jet skis were banned over fears of MTBE contaminating the water, not for any other environmental concern and not due to noise.
MTBE is no longer an issue, and the ban ought to be lifted. If neighbors want a noise ordinance, they should contact their elected representatives and go through the proper channels to have one implemented.
Then, at a public hearing, both sides could come prepared to voice their concerns about noise from jet skis as well as outboard motors and other watercraft.
But continuing a MTBE-based ban on jet skis because some neighbors find them to be noisy is bad policy, sets a terrible precedent, and frankly, is undemocratic.
The same thing for other environmental concerns some groups have about jet skis. If there are issues, they should be addressed in a public hearing about that topic, not in a meeting about a MTBE-based ban on jet skis. We need to be honest in our laws and policies. MTBE from jet skis is no longer a threat, and the ban should be lifted while there’s still some summer left for personal watercraft owners to enjoy.
Failure to do so is manipulative and paternalistic, and it’s offensive to anyone with a sense of fair play and responsibility.
We urge Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage to take notice of this issue and work to have the ban lifted as soon as possible. In the meantime, anyone who thinks jet skis or outboard motors or kayaks ought to be banned at Anderson Lake for whatever reason should go through the proper channels.
Using the outdated MTBE ban to keep jet skis off Anderson Lake is simply wrong.
To respond to this editorial or comment on this issue, please send or bring letters to Editor, Hollister Free Lance, 350 Sixth St., Hollister, Calif. 95023 or fax to 637-4104 or e-mail to
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