To the Austin City Council, Austin Police Department, and City of Austin Officials:

We, the undersigned residents, property owners, lake users, and concerned members of the Austin community, respectfully request that the City of Austin take immediate action to improve public safety on Lake Austin by expanding the existing restrictions on personal watercraft, commonly known as jet skis, to establish a year-round prohibition—or, at minimum, a prohibition on weekends during the busiest months of the year.

Lake Austin is shared by families, swimmers, paddleboarders, kayakers, boaters, tubers, water skiers, wake surfers, and other recreational users. As lake activity and congestion have increased, the combination of high-speed personal watercraft, inexperienced operators, and impaired or reckless operation presents an increasingly serious public-safety concern. When existing regulations are difficult to enforce in a heavily congested environment, stronger preventive measures should be considered.

Texas law prohibits personal watercraft from operating within 50 feet of another vessel, person, stationary platform, object, or shore except at headway speed. On a heavily congested lake, maintaining these separation requirements becomes increasingly difficult, particularly where personal watercraft, boats towing skiers or surfers, swimmers, and other recreational users are sharing limited navigable space. We should not have to wait for a fatality before taking action.

Austin already recognizes the heightened safety concerns associated with personal watercraft on Lake Austin. Under § 8-5-81, the City currently prohibits the use or possession of jet skis, wet bikes, motorized surfboards, and similar devices during three major holiday periods: Memorial Day, Labor Day, and July 4th. We respectfully ask the City Council to evaluate whether those limited restrictions are sufficient given the current level of lake use and congestion.

We are asking the City of Austin to:

• Prioritize public safety on Lake Austin and address the risks associated with personal watercraft.
• Expand § 8-5-81 to establish a year-round prohibition on personal watercraft on Lake Austin.
• If a year-round prohibition is not adopted, consider a Friday–Sunday prohibition from April 1 through October 1, when Lake Austin experiences its highest levels of recreational activity and congestion.
• Review the safety risks associated with rental personal watercraft, including the challenges presented by inexperienced operators.
• Evaluate whether existing regulations and enforcement mechanisms are sufficient to protect those who live on and recreate on Lake Austin.
• Engage Lake Austin residents and recreational users in a meaningful discussion about long-term lake safety.
• Take proactive measures to prevent serious injury or loss of life rather than waiting for a tragedy to occur.
• If the City is not prepared to enact a year-round or expanded weekend prohibition, we respectfully ask that it establish a Lake Austin-specific permitting and safety program with enhanced operator requirements, rental restrictions, and enforcement.

A fundamental question remains: Is the current regulatory framework sufficient to keep people safe on Lake Austin? If the answer is no, we urge the City to take meaningful action now.

We believe protecting the safety of children, families, swimmers, tubers, boaters, and all Lake Austin users should be a priority. We respectfully ask the City of Austin to act now, not after a preventable accident results in serious injury or loss of life.

SIGN THE PETITION
By signing below, I am expressing my support for the City of Austin to pursue a year-round prohibition of personal watercraft (jet skis) on Lake Austin as a public-safety measure.

*No financial contribution is requested. Your signature is the only support we are asking for.