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Low Water Forces Closure Of Overton Launch

By Vernon Robison
Moapa Valley Progress
Submitted May 28, 2008


The National Park Service (NPS) made the difficult decision last week to close the boat launch ramp at Overton Beach, just two days before the Memorial Day weekend. NPS officials gathered at Overton Beach on Wednesday, May 21 to view conditions and decide what should be done. On Thursday morning, the ramp was closed.

Low water conditions have made the

The courtesy dock at Overton Beach has become stuck in the mud as Lake Mead water levels have dropped by four feet over the past two weeks.
Overton Beach ramp unusable for launching watercraft. The courtesy dock at the ramp is, for all intents and purposes, on land. It is stuck firmly in the mud. “It probably couldn’t even be used to launch a jetski right now,” said NPS spokesperson, Roxanne Dey. “In fact it’s doubtful that a person could even launch a kayak there with current conditions.”

Over the last four weeks, water levels at Lake Mead have dropped four feet in elevation, according to the U.S. Department of Reclamation. Furthermore, projections show the lake dropping an additional two feet in the month of June.

Because of the mild incline of the shoreline at Overton Beach a drop of one foot in water level is equivalent to 10-20 feet of shoreline lost, said Roxanne Dey.

Marker buoys at Overton Beach have become beached in the mud as Lake Mead water levels have dropped. The NPS has worked over the past six months to keep the Overton Beach launch ramp open. In the fall and winter of last year, the NPS spent nearly $800,000 in improvements to extend the boat ramp. But the lowering water has taken things out of the NPS control.

“We have done everything possible to keep the ramp open as long as we could,” Dey said. “Unfortunately, the Park Service does not control the level of the lake.”

Because of continued low water projections, the ramp is not expected to open again at any time during this summer. But NPS officials insist that this closure will not be permanent.

“We hope to be able to re-open the ramp in the late Fall of this year,” Dey said.

Official projections show the Lake levels going up significantly towards the end of the year. The current year’s snow pack in the western Rockies showed a good year, at 120% of normal. But there is still a lot of lost ground to make up, Dey said.

“One good year can’t make up for eight years of serious drought,” Dey said. “But when the water comes back we will reopen the ramp at Overton Beach.”

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