Deputies patrol Lake Minnetonka as high water ordinances go into effect

(FOX 9) - Update: Lake Minnetonka's High Water Declaration was terminated June 12.

When most people think “no wake zone” on Lake Minnetonka, they think 150 feet from shore, but that all changed this weekend.

Saturday, Hennepin County Sheriff’s deputies were on the water to make sure people are staying safe and staying 600 feet from shore.

“They understand the normal operating procedure out here and then to just declare that this is how this is going to be on 1 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, it’s going to be a little rough the first weekend, and then after that I think that everyone will catch on,” explained Deputy Alan Lange.

With water levels higher than where they should be, high water ordinances have been issued on seven Hennepin County lakes until further notice.

Most of the lakes are set at no wake at all, but Minnetonka is the exception.

“We have added bays,” explains Deputy Lange. “Bays that are not exclusively no wake. So, going off that list, these are areas that I am probably going to want to concentrate on because that’s where people aren’t normally."

If deputies do notice boaters creating a wake within 600 feet of shore, they’ll start with verbal warnings, but it can escalate from there.

“A large rolling wake, they seem like they don’t care about what it’s doing to the shoreline or to people’s properties," Deputy Lange says. "It could escalate all the way up to a citation."

The high water ordinance will remain in effect until water levels drop. Officials say they believe with ample sun and no rain, that would be at least two weeks.