Marine Patrol: No wake in Silver Lake

BELMONT — A no-wake order is in effect on Silver Lake, until the water level is below 467 feet above sea level.

“We are constantly working on maintaining those water levels and ensuring that peoples’ properties are protected, but we also have to keep a regular flow coming out of the Big Lake,” said Jim Martin, public information officer for the state Department of Environmental Services. “It is a balancing act that the dam bureau staff pays close attention to.”

The no-wake order was issued by Marine Patrol on May 30, urging boaters across the state to be aware of their wakes, and use caution when navigating in channels and near the shore.

No-wake orders come under state law, through a chapter on supervision of navigation, registration of boats and motors, and common carriers by water. The chapter covers speed limits, penalties and operating restrictions, and rules pertaining to bodies of water across the state, and there is a particular section designated for Silver Lake in Belmont

That section states the Division of State Police will institute a no-wake order for Silver Lake whenever the DES Silver Lake Station measures 467 feet or more above sea level.

According to Martin, the boating restriction remains in place and is enforceable until the lake level drops. When the no-wake order is active, vessels need to operate at headway speed, to prevent dangerous wakes that can cause shoreline erosion, as well as threaten waterfront property.

Headway speed is the slowest speed a boat can be operated safely.

No-wake orders are fairly common for Silver Lake when water levels are high, especially this time of year.

A no-wake order for the lake was issued just over a year ago, on May 15, 2025, and lifted just over two weeks later, on May 31, 2025. In 2024, a no-wake order was posted on April 11, 2024, and lifted on May 2, 2024.

A no-wake order was issued twice in 2023, first on May 3, 2023, and again on July 5, 2023, before it was lifted on Aug. 7, 2023.

There have even been no-wake orders in Lake Winnipesaukee, but they are very rare. According to the Lake Winnipesaukee Alliance, the last time a no-wake restriction was issued by Marine Patrol was in July 1998, when the lake level reached 505.53 feet, more than a foot above the full lake level of 504.32.

A report in The Laconia Daily Sun by the Lake Winnipesaukee Alliance on May 23, 2025, states there is no set lake level that automatically triggers a no-wake order for Winnipesaukee. However, in 2024, HB 1360 was passed into law, allowing the Department of Safety to make temporary no-wake zones for up to 10 days, if there is an emergency caused by weather.