Report recommends continued use of personal watercraft

Thursday, Jan. 9, 2003 | 9:18 a.m.

Jet Skiers got good news Wednesday with the release of the final environmental impact statement regarding the use of personal watercraft at Lakes Mead and Mojave.

The report recommends continued use of personal watercraft on 95 percent of the lakes, said William Dickinson, superintendent of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

The final statement is the first of three steps that need to be taken by April 10 to allow continued use of small motorized watercraft at the lakes. After the 30-day review, a record of decision is expected. Then a final rule will be published.

Under the preferred alternative, total boats allowed at any one time on the two lakes is 5,055.

By Jan. 1, 2013, boats would have to meet the Environmental Protection Agency rule for gasoline marine engines, prohibited on the lakes. Then the National Park Service would require using four-stroke engines, direct-injection two-stroke engines or equivalent technology.

Under the proposal, Jet Skis and similar craft would be banned from primitive and semi-primitive areas, about 5 percent of the two lakes.

In response to public comment and requests from state agencies in Nevada and Arizona, the proposed 100-foot no-wake zone around both lakes has been revised to include 200-foot flat-wake zones around bathing beaches, boats in the water or people in the water or at the shoreline.

The National Park Service would work with the states to develop uniform boating laws and a mandatory education program. Currently, Nevada and Arizona boating laws are not uniform.

Under the proposed rules, boat operators would not be allowed to consume alcoholic beverages.