With water skiing boats, including a 16-foot, 150-horsepower outboard and a 19-foot, 275-horsepower inboard, the Penn State engineers found that at very low speeds, as well as at very high speeds, there was little impact. However, at speeds near 6 to 8 mph, where the boat was "near plane" or close to skimming the water, there was maximum potential to stir up the lake bottom.

Using the data from the study, Hill and Beachler have developed a computer program that can predict the water velocity at the lake bottom at different boat speeds and water depths. They hope to produce guidelines that can be used by lake managers to decide what speeds can be allowed in shallow parts of a lake.

The Penn State engineer says previous studies by other researchers have shown that stirring up the sediments on a lake bottom can cause less light to get to aquatic plants growing there and adversely affect them. Water clarity also affects water temperature as well as quality and has impacts on human lake users as well as wildlife. In addition, stirring sediments can lead to increased levels of nutrients and contaminants in the water and allow them to be transported to other regions of a lake.

Hill points out that the study also holds important implications for commercial boats, for example, ferries. He notes that ferries often leave their propellers turning while docked which could cause turbulence that could stir up a lakebed.