Lake officials brace for weekend

Jace Radke

Monday, May 20, 2002 | 11:22 a.m.

Lake Mead Planning Manager Jim Holland will discuss the National Park Service4s plans for access restrictions at the lake this summer on "Face to Face With Jon Ralston( at 4:30, 5:30 and 8 p.m. today and 1 and 11 a.m. Tuesday on Las Vegas ONE, Cox cable channels 1 and 39.

The Lake Mead National Recreation Area can normally accommodate the thousands who visit over Memorial Day weekend, but this year there is less lake to go around.

With lake levels continuing to drop, holiday boaters can expect long lines at launch ramps, which can handle only a fraction of the boats that they have in the past, said Kay Rhode, chief of interpretation at the recreation area.

"Our guess is that it is going to be as busy as it is every year, and that means between 200,000 and 250,000 people," Rhode said after a meeting last week in which park officials discussed plans for the big weekend. "We're hoping people will be patient, because the lines are going to be longer than usual."

The water around Callville Bay is only deep enough to launch four boats at a time, compared with its normal capacity of 10. The other ramps are in similar situations, with the lake's surface level having dropped more than 25 feet from where it was at this time last year.

To combat the honking, yelling and other problems expected from impatient guests trying to get their boats into and out of the water on one of the area's busiest weekends, the National Park Service has called out the cavalry.

"We probably have 200 employees out here, and pretty much all of them are going to be out working in the park and on boat ramps," Rhode said. "We'll be directing traffic, and probably doing some talking with visitors while they wait in line.

"We've called in administrators and headquarters staff. We'll have an archaeologist on the ramp at Temple Bar."

If boaters don't want to spend an hour or more -- the estimated wait -- talking about archaeology, they can get to the lake before the weekend officially kicks off on Friday.

"We're trying to get the word out to people to come early," Rhode said. "Otherwise we're just hoping we can keep the line moving and defuse any problems."

Frank Anderson, president of the Lake Mead Boat Owners Association, has his own plan for beating the crowds on Memorial Day weekend.

"I'm not going to be out there," Anderson said. "It's going to be a headache and a nightmare trying to get those people to wait in line. They only have so much room, and an awful lot of people and boats."

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is predicting a continuing drop in water level at the lake at least though the end of the year. The lake needs a good winter of snow and precipitation in the upper Colorado River Basin to begin refilling, said Colleen Dwyer, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Reclamation.

"Unfortunately until Mother Nature sends more water, we're at her whim," Dwyer said. "The lake is dropping at a rate of about a foot a week."

Water level is measured by determining how many feet above sea level the lake's surface is. The actual depth of the lake is about 500 feet.

The lake is currently about 1,165 feet above sea level and should drop to about 1,163 feet above sea level by May 29.

The lake continues to meet municipal and agricultural water needs in Nevada, Arizona and California, and this is not the first time that low waters have plagued the 66-year old reservoir. From 1990 to 1996, and in the early 1970s, the lake experienced low water levels.

The dropping lake level presents another problem for boaters -- newly surfacing rocks and reefs.

The park service has marked the outcrops of rocks in main boating channels, and trouble spots are being posted online at www.nps.gov/lame

"If people are careful and watch what they are doing, then it's not dangerous out there," Anderson said. "If people aren't paying attention and driving like a bat out of hell, there will be problems."

Park Service rangers, officials with the Nevada Department of Wildlife and volunteers will be in the recreation area and on the water, Rhode said. Air Ranger Bruce Lenon will be patrolling over the lake in the park service's airplane.

Rangers will have no tolerance for drunk or impaired boaters or visitors, Rhode said.

Visitation is up across the country at national parks and recreation areas, and regardless of low water levels Rhode expects big crowds for the holiday weekend.

"People aren't flying overseas, they're going to places they can drive to," Rhode said. "Patience and courtesy become the keys."