Lake Balaton suffers from illegally mooring boats, calls for legislative changes

Unregulated mooring of unused boats is causing more and more conflicts on Lake Balaton. There are calls for a change in the law, as unlawful storage also endangers reed beds and proper port operation.

As we have previously written, there are too many boats on Lake Balaton. The infrastructure can no longer satisfy the demands of the boat owners. Now the Balaton Association wants to see a change in the law in order to manage the situation, the association’s president is quoted by index.hu.

Last year sokszinuvidek.24.hu reported that more than 210 sailboat owners signed a petition demanding authorities to enable them to keep their boats mooring, as Lake Balaton ran out of free docks.

This is a dangerous step though. Sailboats without a docking opportunity might end up as hazardous waste if they drift away on the lake.

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Now the Central Transdanubian Water Management Directorate (KDTVÍZIG), the Lake Balaton basin manager reported to MTI that 32 underwater obstruction clearance operations had to be carried out in 2022. This number is constantly rising due to unlawful mooring.

Objects, such as concrete blocks that are thrown into the water during moorings and left in an irregular way are invisible. They pose an environmental danger to the basin and the “randomly” moored vessels are also endangering or blocking port operations.

“The police have difficulty in finding the owners of these vessels and of objects used as buoys thrown into the water. The penalties for infringements are not deterring them” – said Gábor Lombár to MTI.

Rejected proposal from the Ministry

There was a proposal from the Ministry of Technology and Industry to form designated mooring sites on the lake.

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This was unanimously rejected by the Balaton Association, asking the representatives of the water authority again to initiate a legislative revision. That could allow management to take control over the berths of sailing boats.

“The designated official berths would in fact be a low-cost port, a loophole solution, creating new business opportunities for some,” said the expert. “While the strict requirements mean that marinas can only be built with state support, no such conditions would be imposed on berthed storage.”

“Many want to avoid paying expensive port fees, but sailing is not a social issue” – said Gábor Lombár.

Source: index.hu, MTI