50 foot back law in TX? Anyone heard of this?

I was just browsing on Planet Nautique and saw this posted by someone else....Has anyone here heard of this? If so, we need to do something. I cannot imagine some crap like this could pass and put many manufactures essentially out of business, but crazier things have happened!

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Today during a safety check on our local lake (Lake Conroe) in Texas our local Lake Patrol told us to enjoy wakesurfing while we can. He said that there is a proposed law that prevents anyone from riding behind the boat closer than 50 feet.

Is this a proposed National Law that we have not heard about? Or is maybe this is something that is just being proposed on our lake?

Has this happened anywhere else to anyone else? Do you guys even think this is legal and possible? I'm assuming I need to contact our local Government officials to cover this. Do the boat companies have lobbyist that monitor these ridiculous laws as well?
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The cops don't mind the lake lice "jet skis" riding within that distance behind a surfer or wakeboarder but they're concerned about the person on the board?!? Mind blowing. Has to be BS I can't see that passing because a few people may have gotten hurt or carbon monoxide poisoning. You can get that just from riding in the back seat with the station wagon effect.

Probably started by some idiots that don't understand how inboards work and where prop is located. There is always some idiot on a I/O that is stupid enough to try to surf it and give us all a bad name. But to someone who does not know what an inboard is, probably does look crazy to see someone riding 8ft behind the boat....thinking they could "fall into the prop" at any moment. Its why we need to educate everyone possible, to keep this sport alive. I would be devastated to lose surfing....if they were to pass a dumb law like this, they are gonna have to catch me cause it wont stop me from surfing!

Probable people irate about large surf wakes.

No state laws in Texas currently in the works. Each state has their own set of guidelines, and rules. No federal rules. Feds don't have any real jurisdiction over state waters for this type of action, and no agency would even tackle this. The ACOE has management responsibilities for their lakes/reservoirs, and as such can make specific waterbody rules with respect to boating, although they should to be concurrent with state laws or they will be susceptible to lawsuits.

Sounds like local ordinance/rule someone/group is try to float. Lake Conroe is managed by the San Jacinto River Authority, dealing with water volume, discharge, general regulation, etc. TPWD has jurisdiction on all wildlife issue, fishing limits, etc.; portion of Lake Conroe are still open to waterfowl hunting; TCEQ/EPA covers water quality as the overarching authorities.

The 50 foot rule is a general safety and noise abatement distance that pops up in all sorts of areas of guidelines. I've sat of some boards/committees were people have tried to float a 50 foot distance behind a vessel as a common sense because other vessels are not suppose to operation inside that distance. I wouldn't be surprised that there is some landowner group around Lake Conroe attempting to limit activities. Below is the current boating regulation section for Lake Conroe that could be amended to get such a rule included.

Section 2.04: Control of Speed. It is a violation of these Rules for
any Person to:
(1) operate a Vessel on the Reservoir at a speed in excess of a “No
Wake” speed within one hundred feet (100’) of any Private Structure,
Marina or other lakeshore facility or bridge, any moored, anchored or
occupied Vessel, or in an inlet in which people are swimming;
(2) operate a Vessel on the Reservoir at a speed in excess of a “No
Wake” speed within fifty feet (50’) of another Vessel, Personal Watercraft
or water skier (other than a water skier towed by such Vessel); or
(3) operate any Vessel on the Reservoir at a speed in excess of
minimum planing speed (the minimum speed at which a Vessel will achieve
and maintain a level plane) during the period from one half-hour after
sunset to one half-hour before sunrise.

Nick