Lake Mead marinas buy time to move to deeper water

Lake level dropping faster than anticipated, threatening to beach floating docks

Sam Morris / Sun file photo

Discoloration around the banks of Lake Mead shows how much the water level has declined over the years.

By Jeff Pope (contact)

Friday, June 26, 2009 | 2:02 a.m.

Lake Mead Losing Water

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Lake Mead

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For Want of Water: Find video reports, interactive graphics and expanded coverage of Las Vegas' water shortage

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has worked out a deal to keep the water level at Lake Mead a foot higher through August to give the lake’s floating marinas extra time to move to deeper water before they become beached.

The marina operators had planned to move farther out into the lake as the water levels have continued to drop, but they asked for extra time after learning in April that the lake level could drop lower than expected.

The Bureau of Reclamation worked out a deal with regional stakeholders and its concession operators on Tuesday to retain an extra foot of water by releasing less at Hoover Dam in July and August.

Each one-foot drop in water adds 10 feet of new beach, said Bob Gripentog, co-owner and general manager of the Las Vegas Boat Harbor.

He said it takes about 30 days to prepare the boats and marina for a move, which he’s done four times already this year.

The extra 60 days means he won’t have to rush a fifth move, which may not be necessary depending on how far the water level actually drops, Gripentog said.

“It gives us a chance to have a little more time to make those moves so that we’re not so far behind the gun that we’re in such a rush,” he said. “It slows down how quickly that (water level) fall is going to come down.”

The delay also gives the U.S. Park Service time to maintain the concrete ramps, so boaters won’t have to wade out into the dirt and mud to launch.

The Bureau of Reclamation found some down-river users who agreed to delay taking their apportioned share of water until August or September, said Lorri Gray-Lee, director of the Lower Colorado Region.

The plan would have minimal effect on the levels in Lakes Mojave and Havasu, she said.

“We’re going to operate the system just a little tighter and keep more water in Lake Mead,” Gray-Lee said. “We would have the water spread out among the three reservoirs, but this way we’re going to just keep it in Mead a little longer and the other two reservoirs will be a little lower.”

The end-of-year projection now shows Lake Mead dropping several more feet below its current level of 1,095.56 feet above mean sea level. The lake is considered full at 1,219 feet.

This year started off well, and officials projected in January that Lake Mead could receive an additional 1 million acre feet of water based on the snowpack in the Rocky Mountains. But the thaw didn’t translate into the expected runoff, forcing the federal agency to revise its figures drastically in April.

Lower water levels can expose new reefs and other hazards to boaters.

Further down river, marina operators are keeping a close eye on the water levels, which aren’t a problem right now, said Daniel McCoy, manager of the boathouse and marina at Havasu Landing Resort.

“A foot wouldn’t be too drastic. It’s in the fall and wintertime when they drop it about 2 to 3 feet. That’s when it really becomes a problem,” he said. “It easily fluctuates a foot as it is.”

Discussion: 4 comments so far…

By WaterSource

6/26/09 at 11:37 a.m.

Suggest removal

There is usually a solution to any problem ...

A million acre feet each year from a totally new NON-TRIBUTARY Source could be accumulated in Lake Mead to keep Lake Mead reasonably FULL ! Accumulation would be possible because this new water has never been in the Colorado River before ... it is NON-TRIBUTARY water.

Development of the new Source will not damage the environment or the water rights of anyone, anywhere.

When FULL, Lake Mead generates 2000 megawatts of RENEWABLE ENERGY each year and the facility is already built and paid for by the American people.

The Bureau of Reclamation, the Southern Nevada Water Authority, Nevada and California have all been offered a complete confidential disclosure of the Source.

Problem is ... no way to receive such a disclosure !

WaterSource/WaterBank waterrdw@yahoo.com Retired Water Rights Analyst
By danscheper

6/26/09 at 12:25 p.m.

Suggest removal

So what is this "totally new NON-TRIBUTARY Source" ?
By skerlahdee

6/26/09 at 1:37 p.m.

Suggest removal

I live in Colorado. We just had a huge snow year. The spring has been exceptionally wet. Yet the Bureau of Rec will not be able to add to the water level in Lake Mead for this water year. If not this year when?

There just isn't enough water, folks.

The "totally new non-tributary source" is probably a new scheme based on the "water flows uphill toward money" principle.
By Stratos

6/27/09 at 5:37 a.m.

Suggest removal

New water source, huh? You mean wild, crazy ideas like cloud seeding, towing icebergs, desalting sea water, clipping salt cedars? http://www.lvrj.com/news/17150881.html

Rest assured, whatever Pat Mulroy and her crew come up with, it will be grand, glossy and costly.