Are restrictions helping social distance on Lake Wylie? Boats are still there.
An executive order that closed public boat ramps aims to increase social distancing. This weekend there still has been activit on Lake Wylie.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued the order Monday. Among other sites, it closes public piers, docks, wharfs, boat ramps and boat landings on public waters during the declared state of emergency. Included are parking lots or other public facilities. The closings are in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus, in an effort to keep people from congregating.
The order gives the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources authority for further clarification, guidance, rules, regulations or restrictions as needed. McMaster’s order prohibits beaching or rafting of boats on sandbars, lake shores, riverbanks and islands. Under most circumstances boats have to remain underway.
They are allowed to stop to let the driver fish. The new rule doesn’t apply to anyone with a valid commercial fishing license.
Last week the Lake Wylie Marine Commission put out guidelines for boating during the coronavirus. They include immediate household members only on the boat, no beaching near or rafting with others, safe distance at fuel docks and direct routes.
“We’ve been watching this, and people have just been ignoring it,” said Chairman Peter Hegarty. “People are still rafting up, doing the things they’re not supposed to do.”
Lake Wylie has plenty of public boat ramps, and sandbars where people gather. They’ve been busy.
Hegarty lives in RiverPointe, on the North Carolina shores opposite Buster Boyd Access Area on the South Carolina side. He recently watched six people sitting side by side in chairs by the lake in his neighborhood, having beers while children played in the sand. On Tuesday morning Hegarty saw people putting in or taking out boats across the lake at Buster Boyd.
“People just don’t realize how serious this is,” he said.
Boaters were still putting their boats in Lake Wylie Saturday at the Allison Creek Access Area, despite having signs at the entrance saying the area was closed to the public. Families still gathered at the dock to fish.
Many in the boating community have taken to the lake in recent weeks at least in part due to social distancing, not in spite of it. Several area anglers have posted pictures of themselves on social media, fishing with no one around them. A Facebook post by the local tackle shop in Lake Wylie poses the question, what could provide more social distance than a day on the lake?
Adam Fillmore once ran his own bait and tackle shop on the lake. He still fishes the lake regularly, in tournaments or for fun. Fillmore said coronavirus is part of the reason so many people are on Lake Wylie now.
“It’s packed,” he said. “I think having people’s workplaces closed and other forms of entertainment closed or restricted, it has definitely caused higher than normal traffic this early in the season at the ramps.”
Fillmore distinguishes between the angler who may use a ramp to get a few hours alone on the water and people who use the ramp to tie up at the sandbar.
“It’s a shame they are closing them,” he said. “I think the guidelines should be recommended and not enforced. I certainly don’t see it fair to take people’s privileges who did follow the guidelines and were just trying to keep sane and distracted during these times.”
McMaster acknowledged there are people who followed social distancing guidelines who will be impacted, but called the new rules necessary to prevent further COVID-19 spread.
Susan Bromfield, president of the Lake Wylie Chamber of Commerce, said she spent time on the lake Sunday. She agrees not everyone on the water lumped together at the sandbar or a common anchor spot.
“I saw that most people were keeping a safe distance apart,” she said. “Some boaters had, I assumed, their family on board. I saw fishermen. I heard of boaters gathering and socializing at a distance but I did not see it.”
Hegarty said his group began work with law enforcement partners weeks ago on how to handle crowding amid coronavirus. Lake Wylie enforcement is complicated by its placement between two states and three counties. North Carolina has different rules, and Mecklenburg County parks such as Copperhead Island are still open for some activities.
“There is no rule in place in North Carolina at this point,” Hegarty said of the South Carolina change, “though I wouldn’t be surprised if that follows right to it.”
The lake patrol unit with the York County Sheriff’s Office has been in contact with the marine commission on enforcement. The sheriff’s office directed questions on how the new rules will be enforced to SCDNR.
“The plan of how to enforce it, that’s still being worked on,” said Greg Lucas, SCDNR spokesperson. “The main focus is we eliminate these chokeholds, these spots where people come together. It’s not trying to get people off the water or keep people from fishing.”
The governor’s order doesn’t shut down lakes like Wylie entirely. It involves public boat ramps. Many Lake Wylie residents have boat docks on the water, and thus don’t need a public ramp. Then, there are hundreds of boat owners who use the various commercial wet and dry docks at marinas.
“I don’t know how that works,” Hegarty said.
He’s been inundated with calls, Hegarty said, from people with questions on access to their boats in storage.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how this all plays out,” Hegarty said.
As for whether people who still gather in groups on the water face warnings, fines or other law enforcement options to start, Lucas said the plan is still in the works. Based on enforcement on lakes like Hartwell and Keowee even prior to the new rules, there could be a stern response.
“There has not been much tolerance so far for those gatherings already,” Lucas said.
Even with lake enforcement units from three counties and two state agencies, Lake Wylie doesn’t have a law enforcement presence to track down every boat on a crowded lake. Ramp closures are a little easier than other rule changes. Concrete barriers are common to severe drought or other times when ramps are closed for safety reasons.
“It’s going to require a coordinated effort,” Lucas said. “A physical barrier, especially at the major ramps, certainly would be involved.”
Lucas also acknowledges there are people who play by the rules who will be impacted by the ramp closures. Yet, he said, something had to be done.
“It’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before,” Lucas said. “Unfortunately, with everyone heading toward boat landings, we have a duty to try to help protect public health. That’s what’s the governor has tasked us to do.”
As of Monday afternoon South Carolina reported 925 confirmed cases and 18 deaths resulting from the coronavirus. York County accounts for 43 cases. Mecklenburg and Gaston counties in North Carolina, the other two counties to border Lake Wylie, combine for 447 confirmed cases and one death.
As of Tuesday morning, Mecklenburg County had by far the highest number of COVID-19 cases of any county in the Carolinas. Home to Charlotte, it also has a huge population. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates Mecklenburg County has more than 1.1 million residents, about four times the population of York County.
While Lake Wylie has people using it with intent both to isolate and to gather, Hegarty said people were forewarned about getting too close together. Continued gathering statewide now means more severe action from the governor.
“I guess this is what people get for stupidity,” Hegarty said.
This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 3:31 PM.
