Introduction

Motivation:

I chose to study the effects of boat-generated waves due to my personal interests and experience.  I am an avid boater and enjoy waterskiing, wakeboarding, and fishing.  But before taking this class, I had never thought of the effects the waves I was creating could have on the surrounding environment.  As an engineer, I hope to find ways to minimize the impacts humans have on the natural environment.  If I discover that boat waves can have significant effects on lake shorelines, maybe I can find a way to reduce those effects while keeping boaters happy.

Objectives:

In CEE 514 we have studied waves from natural sources (wind), but never from anthropogenic sources (boats).  For this project, I will show the effects of boat-generated waves when compared with wind-generated waves on:

• Wave height
• Wave power
• Sediment resuspension capabilities

Importance:

Wave power can have drastic effects on shoreline erosion.  As waves hit the shore, they break apart the soil and carry sediments into the water.  This results in shoreline recession which can create a loss of beach area or an instability of coastal structures.  Waves can also have impacts on the shoreline biota, changing the environment in which plants and animals live. 

When sediments are resuspended into the water, they can be trasported and deposited to other places in the lake.  This can cause problems related to loss of sediments or the accumulation of sediments, changing the bathymetry of the lake.  Sediment resuspension can also allow hazardous particles that may have settled to the bottom to re-enter the water column, causing problems for fish and plants.