Recreational regulations for the use of the Ruhrverband dams
The legal basis for the recreational use of the Ruhrverband dams is provided by the public use regulations of the Arnsberg district government and the supplementary recreational regulations of the Ruhrverband. The aim of the regulations is to harmonise the most extensive recreational use possible with the other water management tasks of the reservoirs.
Among other things, the use of water-compatible electric motors is permitted. The Ruhrverband was the first dam owner in North Rhine-Westphalia to authorise this extended leisure activity for the 2011 summer season. The Verse, Fürwigge and Ennepetal dams, from which drinking water is extracted directly, are unaffected by the regulation; electric motors are also still taboo on the Lister dam.
Anyone wishing to use the dams with electric motors requires a motor licence and, if necessary, an additional boat licence. A handout has been created for the proper affixing of motor and boat licence plates. In addition to the use of electric motors, the use of electric model boats is also permitted in designated areas.
In contrast to the selected reservoirs, the use of electric motors is not permitted on the Harkort, Hengstey and Kemnader lakes. This is because the reservoirs have depths of up to 30 metres and more, while the Ruhr reservoirs are very shallow. The lakes were originally designed as "sedimentation basins" and were intended to retain suspended matter in the water. The propellers of the engines, or rather their turbulence, stir up this sediment.
As a special shallow water area has developed in the area where the Möhne flows into the Möhne dam as a resting and breeding area for water birds, any other use of the area by boats and other watercraft is prohibited until further notice, in addition to windsurfing. The area is marked by buoys.