Personal watercraft enthusiasts may ask court to block ban

Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2002 | 10:41 a.m.

Owners of Jet Skis and other personal watercraft are planning to ask a court to block a ban on using their watercraft at Lake Mead after Sept. 15.

The court-ordered ban, which National Park Service officials say is temporary, was imposed after the park service failed to complete an environmental impact statement.

For watercraft dealers such as Dan Boyle, the ban is a matter of economics.

Boyle, owner of Marine Products Pro Shop in Henderson, said he normally sells up to 150 personal watercraft a year. He has sold fewer than half the annual average this year.

"The ban seems pointless," Boyle said, because the park service intends to allow the watercraft back on Lake Mead next spring.

The publicity over the upcoming deadline is causing people to abandon their craft, he said.

"People won't buy them, and those that want to (sell), can't sell them," Boyle said.

He is planning a legal challenge to the ban and is building a coalition of personal watercraft enthusiasts.

A year-round rider, Boyle said the best months for water play are yet to come -- September and October.

An estimated 12,000 personal watercraft are registered in Clark County, which given an average investment of $5,000 adds up to at least $60 million for the local economy, Boyle said.

But the industry faces a change because of the upcoming ban, due to the park service's failure to finish an environmental study.

The study was ordered as part of a lawsuit filed two years ago by the Bluewater Network, an environmental group based in San Francisco. The group claims the watercraft, which are less than 16 feet long and use an inboard motor, dump unburned gasoline into the water.

Independent park service consultants found that unburned gasoline does not present a significant danger to water quality or wildlife. When the environmental statement is completed in February or March, the park service plans to allow personal watercraft on the lake, Karla Norris, spokeswoman for the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, said.

"It's a temporary ban until the National Park Service completes its assessment," Norris said. "They are working very hard to keep them on the water."

The park service is compiling more than 10,000 public comments on the issue.

Environmental activists, however, said national studies indicate there are threats to lakes and rivers from personal watercraft.

The boat owners are failing to acknowledge that personal watercraft damage public water bodies, said Bluewater Network's Katy Rexford. The final analysis is not complete for Lake Mead, she said.

Environmental damage has been found in 67 parks nationwide, and 13 have already banned the crafts, Rexford said. In five of the parks, personal watercraft have been banned permanently.

"It is unfortunate that they would use legal action in a process that has been going on for years," Rexford said of the Lake Mead craft owners.

Storage facility operators said boat owners will need a place to keep their craft no matter what happens.

Doug McErlain of Lake Mead RV & Boat Storage in Henderson said he supported the temporary ban.

"Why can't people live and let live, without all these restrictions?" he asked.

Laird Sanders, owner of Lake Mead Boat Storage in Henderson, said he expects his facility to stay full. About 40 personal watercraft are stored in his units.

"If they move out, 30 or 40 small boats will move in," Sanders said.

Las Vegas Bay Marina manager Gail Kaiser said she didn't understand what the watercraft owners would accomplish by going to court. "They have to obey the court order," she said.

Along with court deadlines, the marina is facing falling water levels as drought and demands from downstream draw off more of Lake Mead this year, Kaiser said.

"The ban doesn't include jet boats," she said, "only personal watercraft that you ride on like a motorcycle. If you ride in it, like a boat, then it's not banned."

For Boyle, overturning any ban, even a temporary one, is the goal. Each watercraft owner is being asked to contribute $25 to the fund to file an injunction against the ban.