First of all, let me just say that it was a mistake from the very beginning to ever place Lake Mead under the stewardship of the National Park Service (NPS). In no way does that lake qualify as a national park. It is NOT a national wonder nor is it historically significant. If the human race had not put a chunk of concrete in the river at Black Canyon back in the 1930s, Lake Mead would all just be more worthless desert land. There is nothing natural nor precious about it.
The lake was appropriately designated as a “National Recreation Area.” There is a big difference between that and a national park! It is a playground, not a treasure.
As such, it has become one of the most popular destinations in the entire NPS system. In 2021, Lake Mead was the fifth most visited “park” in the nation with 7.6 million visitors! To put that in perspective, the Grand Canyon was ranked 13th on that list with 4.5 million visitors. Zion was #10 at 5 million. The Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC was #8 with 5.8 million visitors.
With that kind of visitation numbers, Lake Mead should be an easy slam dunk for the NPS. I mean, it doesn’t carry the heavy burden of having to conserve and preserve the natural resources. But the people, and revenues just keep coming in. The only job at Lake Mead is simply to maintain access for the public.
So why has the NPS dropped the ball on even that? All of a sudden, there is almost no access to the lake for boaters this summer. There is only one operating launch on Lake Mead and – surprise, surprise! – it is so overcrowded and congested that it can hardly be counted as real access.
On the Overton Arm, there is NO boat access at all without a nearly 4-hour roundtrip by road and water to get there.
To be fair, the NPS cannot control the drought or the dropping lake water level that goes with it. But this is not a bolt out of the blue! The current water levels were expected and projected well in advance of this summer. We are talking several years notice!
So, why has there been no plan in place to maintain boat access to the Lake as water levels have gradually dropped? Why have temporary alternative low water launch sites not already been identified and prepared? How have we arrived at a point where we must just accept the idea that the public simply can’t fully access the fifth most visited site in the NPS system?
At Lake Mead, the NPS has one job to do. I know that the drought poses a difficult problem for the NPS. So solve it! Surely the nation that found a way to engineer and build the mighty Hoover Dam that created this lake can find a way to allow boats to launch on it!
Sheldon Worley
Moapa Valley
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2 thoughts on “LETTER: Lake Mead access: Just solve the problem!”
Who cares about boat launches. Let focus on the real issue. Getting that lake back up to par. Focus on a water pipeline, sending water from flooding states to desert states. Engineers get it done.
Well said Sheldon! Me, my friends, and family have been boating on Lake Mead for my entire life – I am now 65 and a native Nevadan.
I (we) have been paying ever increasing fees for the privilege to use the park for over a decade now. What have we got for our money? Nearly nothing – one marginal launch ramp for the entire lake! What we did get for our money is entry stations to collect more money! Many years ago, when on the lake it was not unusual to see NPS boats patrolling. In the last five or so years the only rangers I ever see are in those little shacks.
And to Rose who said, “who cares about boat launches”, I can assure you many, many people do, and we are the people who have been paying those fees for years and years, We do!
No improved access ramps on the Overton arm or on the Arizona side. I know because I have driven the entire lake form Echo Bay to South Cove, and Pearce Ferry.