VIDALIA — The Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office is enforcing its recreational boat traffic ban on area lakes and is warning people to stay off the water.

After numerous complaints from house owners about damage to property being caused by the wakes of boaters zooming by, Concordia Parish Homeland Security Director Payne Scott has brought in agents from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Scott said agents have the authority to issue citations.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Pineville Office, which covers enforcement for the parish, said the local district attorney would set the price of the fine.

Officials with the Concordia Parish District Attorney’s Office said recreational boating citations have not been issued in recent memory, so an approximate figure for the fine could not be given.

Lake Concordia, Lake St. John, Black River Lake, Horseshoe Lake and all of the tributaries are closed to recreational boat traffic until further notice.

“Water right now is extremely high, and it is still rising,” Scott said. “All of this water is just rolling downhill, and we are downhill from Monroe and Shreveport.

“With more rain predicted, it might just add fuel to the fire.”

Scott said the closing of the lakes is both a life and property protection issue.

Piers, boathouses and other property near the lake are being damaged by the wakes, Scott said.“If you go to the ocean, you can see what damage is done with the waves constantly hitting the shore,” he said. “Some of these piers and walkways are either completely or mostly underwater, and that is making the damage even worse.”

Accidents could be caused by debris, as more of debris enters the water when lakes are high. Pieces of pier, or abandoned boats and logs that were near the banks, are now floating in the lakes, he said.“I saw an old abandoned speedboat floating out there,” he said. “People just aren’t used to this and could end up hitting something they don’t see.”

Scott said the sheriff’s office has a wait-and-see attitude concerning when to open the lakes back up to recreational traffic.

“There are rivers to the north of us that are at unprecedented stages, and all of that water comes down this way,” he said. “We are hoping the next rain event won’t dump a whole lot of water on us and will move on quickly.

“We’ll just have to keep an eye on the water.”