Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
StumbleLake Mead braces for busiest weekend of the year
Officials urge visitors to use caution while on and around the water
Friday, May 28, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.
Related story
Beyond the Sun
Unlike the glitzy tourist attractions on the Strip, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area has seen an increase in visitors in the last year, and officials are gearing up for the busiest weekend of the year.
The recreation area averages about 8 million visitors a year, National Park Service spokeswoman Roxanne Dey said. In the past year, that number has risen about 7 percent.
The increase is likely because more local residents are taking advantage of the area, Dey said.
“Some locals are rediscovering Lake Mead,” she said. “Maybe they can’t afford to go to California, but they can come here.”
Memorial Day weekend is usually the busiest of the year at Lake Mead, with about 200,000 visitors, Dey said.
“People are staying closer and taking advantage of the recreation in their own backyard,” said Edwin Lyngar, the Nevada Department of Wildlife’s boat education coordinator. “We want them out here, but we want them to be safe.”
The Nevada and Arizona wildlife departments and rangers from the National Park Service will be patrolling Lake Mead this weekend looking for people without proper safety equipment or who are drinking and driving boats.
“You can not drink and drive a boat safely,” Dey said.
Lyngar said every boat is required to carry a life jacket for each passenger on board, and children under the age of 13 are required to wear the life jacket when the boat is moving.
Today’s life jackets aren’t the same as the ones of 20 years ago, he said. Improvements have led to slim life jackets that automatically inflate when they hit the water.
“There’s no longer a reason to go without one,” Lyngar said. “They’re no longer orange, bulky and dorky.”
Game warden Lt. Mike Maynard said boat drivers need to be extra careful on Lake Mead, where the falling water level has created obstacles that could severely damage a boat.
“Lake Mead can be hazardous if you’re navigating it for the first time, especially if it’s in low-light conditions,” he said after pointing out a pipe sticking out of the water.
Because the lake’s water level fluctuates, even if someone has driven on the lake before, the obstacles change, Maynard said.
While a large number of accidents on the lake are the result of drunken driving, shifting weather also leads to a large number of stranded boaters and sinking vessels, officials said.
National Weather Service meteorologist Faith Borden said weather on the lake can change quickly and if there are high winds or an approaching thunderstorm, boaters should find safety in a cove rather than trying to make it back to the marina.
The safest time to be on the water is in the morning, Borden said. Most of the high winds come in the afternoons, and thunderstorms rarely form in the morning, she said.
Lake Mead’s 500 miles of shoreline can also be dangerous, Dey said.
“One of the safety messages we can’t stress enough is to leave the backyard pool toys at home,” she said.
Floating toys are great in pools but don’t work well on the lake, she said. Winds and waves can pick up the lightweight toys and pull children away from the shore.
Discussion: comments so far…
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
No trusted comments have been posted.
Post a comment
Most Popular
- Viewed
- Discussed
- E-mailed
- Two dead after accident in downtown Las Vegas
- Superstar Whitney Houston dies at 48
- Instant Analysis: Debating whether UNLV should continue series with San Diego State
- Police looking for man in white Ford Explorer
- Dining Guide: 2012 Valentine’s Day options in Las Vegas
- Four people injured in car accident
- Color from the scene at Thomas & Mack Center: We have a wire job! Rebels win, and Louie Armstrong sings!
- Blog: Justin Hawkins’ steal seals UNLV’s thrilling 65-63 victory against San Diego State
- After Nevada and Florida wins, Mitt Romney trying to prove he’s ‘severely conservative’ to CPAC base
- UNLV makes key plays down stretch to hold off San Diego State 65-63
Blogs
The Kats Report
Color from scene at Thomas & Mack: We have a wire job! Rebels win, and Louie Armstrong sings!
South Point owner Michael Gaughan's take on 'Vegas Stripped': 'I'll give it an 8' (4 Comments)
Author relishes writing the life story of ‘larger-than-life’ Oscar Goodman (3 Comments)
Elsewhere
Landowner: All roads could lead to Uxbridge casino
Revel reveals smoke-free casino opening
Cirque du Soleil show in Sands China casino to close this month
Meet the woman behind Sheldon Adelson
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
We were out boating last week and will be out again this weekend. The lake was beautiful. Took a ride out by the Hoover Dam and the new bridge looks magnificent. The water was still cold, but I'm jumping in this weekend.
Why would anyone in their right mind want to visit a lake in CA when they have Lake Mead, Lake Mojave and the Colorado River available to them. Most of the lakes in CA are polluted, over crowded, and over priced. When I lived there we used to visit one of the local lakes only because it was close to us, it was called diaper lake for a reason. Even the ocean in SoCal is so badly polluted with medical and human waste that you don't even want to go in it! Las Vegas Rocks!
What a great place for ICE to do a status check. They could work at the entrance and ask for proof of citizenship. I would think they could pick up several thousand border jumpers at the entrance area this weekend. DEPORT ALL ILLEGALS.
Why would anyone in their right mind want to visit a lake in CA when they have Lake Mead, Lake Mojave and the Colorado River available to them. Most of the lakes in CA are polluted, over crowded, and over priced. When I lived there we used to visit one of the local lakes only because it was close to us, it was called diaper lake for a reason. Even the ocean in SoCal is so badly polluted with medical and human waste that you don't even want to go in it! Las Vegas Rocks
Yeah,..I'm just waitin' to see how long its gonna be before Lake Mead, Lake Mojave, and the Colorado River end up the same way, because of "Yah hoo now, someone else will take care of the responsibilities later" mentality of SoCa
Aquapalooza will be July 18th at Lake Mead. Check out the Aquapalooza web site. Lots of boats and good people having fun.