COME NEXT SUMMER, ROSS Barnett Reservoir boaters are in for a surprise.
Beginning July 2008 a mandatory boaters fee will be issued for all boats that use the reservoir, according to Benny French, general manager of Pearl River Water Supply District (PRWSD).
The new fee of $35 for boats 35 feet or less in length and $50 for boats larger than 35 feet will be a yearly expense to those who live, play and float on the reservoir. But residents of the watershed with boats aren’t the only ones who will pay the fee, boaters from out of town or vacationers with boats will pay a $10 fee for a 10 day pass for reservoir use.
“Essentially boaters will pay the fee that applies to them and in return they will get a decal for their boat,” French said. “We will be working with wildlife and Fisheries to make the decals available the same places people get their hunting and fishing licenses.”
No design has been announced for the decal yet, but it has been described as being a sticker designed to be put in a highly visible area on boats.
After the decals become mandatory, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (MDWF) will be processing the appropriate forms to make not having the decal as proof of purchasing the boat pass, a prosecutable offense.
“Before all the legislation gets approved it would be a code three violation,” said Stephen Adcock, chief of law enforcement for the MDWF. “A code three violation is usually a $25 fine and court fees, which all together usually add up to about $108.”
While no date has been released regarding when the decals will be available for purchase, French expects they will be available in spring 2008.
ALTHOUGH NO DATE OR design is set for the decals and the laws still have to go in for approval, the estimated amount of money the fee will bring in for the PRWSD is in.
“We expect the fees to bring in about $300,000 to $500,000 per year,” French said. “The money will be added to what we get from leased land and it will go toward lake maintenance and facilitating the boaters on the reservoir.”
Until the introduction of the fee takes effect, the PRWSD’s only source of income has been the funds that people renting property on the reservoir pay to them. “We have estimated that we need to be spending about a million dollars to maintain the reservoir the way it needs to be for boaters,” French said. “But we can’t spend a million a year if we don’t have it and we don’t. Hopefully the boater fee puts a pretty good dent in that million we need to be spending.”
The estimated million needed for maintaining the reservoir would go toward managing aquatic vegetation, boat ramps, public restrooms, dredging and much more, according to French.
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