lake mead loosing water

Share your fishing adventures, especially ones using antique tackle!
Post Reply
Chuck Gano
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 269
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:57 pm
Location: shores of mississippi river ill

lake mead loosing water

Post by Chuck Gano »

today we tried to launch in lake mead and had a very hard time doing so, the water seems to be leaking out somwhere, maybe a fisherman got snagged and accidently pulled the plug but i think most likely the culprit is the u.s. dept. of the interior whom i have learned controls water usage from this lake, now i know that sport fishing is way down on the list of important uses for fresh water in this country but to take vacationers away from the small az. town i live in here will devistate this community the impact is being felt by the few small businesse's here now . the water goes as far away as california and to see them using it to water golf courses in the desert really bothers me, the next closer ramp is about 70 miles from here and even that one ( which is maintained by the park service) is about a 1/4 mile walk to the parking lot, up hill in 90+ heat not really an option for us here, maybe when i was younger, anyway just wanted to get this off my chest,charlie
Reel Geezer
Ultra Board Poster
Posts: 2313
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2003 11:06 pm
Location: On the Snake River or Lake Lowell
Contact:

Post by Reel Geezer »

Charlie, Where do you launch - Temple Bar?
We used to fish stripers down there in the fall. It was a nice place to stay.
Chuck Gano
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 269
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:57 pm
Location: shores of mississippi river ill

lake mead

Post by Chuck Gano »

hi phil ,no we launch (for the time being) at south cove at the end of peirce ferry road temple bar is 70miles away around the mountain, and about 20 miles as the crow flys thats still a nice place to stay and if your a guest they shuttle you up and down the hill only place on the az. side with accomadations.
Araye50
Super Board Poster
Posts: 653
Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 1:27 pm
Location: Micanopy, FL

Re: lake mead loosing water

Post by Araye50 »

If you live so close to Lake Mead I'm surprised you don't have better handle on the situation. The "most likely the culprit" isn't so much distant "water usage" as it is Climate Change. There has been serious long term drought throughout the entire region, dramatically reduced snow pack, as well as massive population growth closer by. The major change has been a large reduction in precipitation "leaking" in to replenish the reservoir. Water must be released to make power & feed Davis Dam, Parker Dam & Laguna Dam. Or would you "devistate" the communities downstream? Its not just "the small az. town (you) live in". Thank Uncle Sam that you have Lake Mead to play in at all.
charlie gano wrote:
the water seems to be leaking out somwhere, maybe a fisherman got snagged and accidently pulled the plug

i think most likely the culprit is the u.s. dept. of the interior whom i have learned controls water usage from this lake the water goes as far away as california and to see them using it to water golf courses in the desert really bothers me
AZ & NV have no shortage of bothersome "golf courses in the desert" to water. Of course the lion's share of the water goes to agriculture, irrigating over 1.5 million acres of desert to feed millions of people. The power generated goes pretty far too.

When you find yourself feeling shortchanged by "the u.s. dept. of the interior" try to putting your feet in Mexican shoes. For many years the mighty Colorado has only occasionally reached Mexico's coast b/c all the dams siphon most of the water off. Much of the time sandbars completely block it's mouth. What pathetically remains of the once wild river is most often a putrid dead end. Try to imagine the decades of "impact" the strangling of the Colorado has had on the Gulf of California.

Somehow your inconvenience pales in comparison. I walk about 1/2 mile in 90+ heat daily just going to my mailbox, then I walk about 1/2 mile back to my house.

Wonder how much extra Colorado River water was used fighting the wild fires?
Chuck Gano
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 269
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:57 pm
Location: shores of mississippi river ill

Post by Chuck Gano »

2 OF THE RESEVOIRS YOU REFER TO ARE FULL LAKE POWELL IS AS FULL RIGHT NOW AS IT HAS EVER BEEN LAKE HAVASU DOWN RIVER IS ALSO FULL, NO PROBLEM LAUNCHING THERE JUST FIGHTING THE MULTITUDES OF BOATS, MEAD IS DOWN OVER 1100 FT. AND FALLING EVAPORATION AND DROUGHT DO CONTRIBUTE BUT WHY IS IT NOT HAVING THE SAME EFFECT ON THESE OTHER LAKES, WOW EVERY TIME WE SAY ANYTHING EVERYONE SAYS WERE A BUNCH OF COMPLAINERS, I GO TO YUMA REGULARY AND THE IRRIGATION DITCHES ARE FULL AND THE CROPS DOING WELL, IM NOT SAYING THE WATER ISNT IMPORTANT TO THE REST OF THE WEST I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHY IT ALL HAS TO COME OUT OF MEAD I GUESS WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE IF THIS LITTLE AZ TOWN DIES ITS NO BIG DEAL BUT IT WILL BE TO THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE
User avatar
Brian F.
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3536
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2003 1:23 am
Location: Hilo, Hawaii

Post by Brian F. »

Howdy Charlie,
I'll be making a trip to Las Vegas some time in September to tag along with my wife and her office as they attend a convention for work. I'm not a real gambler so toying with the idea of running away to Lake Mead to fish for some striped bass or whatever. Hoping the conditions are a little better by that time. Would finding a guide be good?
Araye50
Super Board Poster
Posts: 653
Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 1:27 pm
Location: Micanopy, FL

Post by Araye50 »

Well you were complaining afterall: "just wanted to get this off my chest". What did you expect, everyone to just automatically pile on the "u. s. dept of the interior"? I thought I'd done that in spades? Now you're complaints are exaggerated & SCREAMING in all caps! I fish/boat both coasts in FL, its ~85 miles to the Atlantic & ~75 to the GOM. Adding "about a 1/4 mile" to reach the water wouldn't be much of an inconvenience. I was just trying to put your complaints in perspective.

Around here there's been a fight to remove the ill conceived Rodman Dam & free the Oklawaha River. Complaining is an American birthrite. They periodically draw the lake down to control weeds & its a "sport fishing" bonanza, concentrating all the fish into a smaller pool. Not sure how that relates to: "sport fishing is way down on the list of important uses". However the truth is that river levels have always changed. Dams only interfere w/the natural process & can only accomplish this by artificially changing river levels. That's what dams do, they have virtually no affect on the volume of regional precipitation that fills their reservoirs. When I think of major dam projects, 1st thing that comes to mind are ALL the LITTLE riverside TOWNS that must DIE to fill the reservoirs. Look at what China has been doing! "NO BIG DEAL" you say?
charlie gano wrote:
LAKE POWELL IS AS FULL RIGHT NOW AS IT HAS EVER BEEN

MEAD IS DOWN OVER 1100 FT. AND FALLING

WOW EVERY TIME WE SAY ANYTHING EVERYONE SAYS WERE A BUNCH OF COMPLAINERS

I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHY IT ALL HAS TO COME OUT OF MEAD
I'm sorry you still don't see the "BIG PICTURE" & that I didn't address the lake levels downstream. I regret not including that Lake Mead is not the Colorado's source. Unfortunately for you, your "LITTLE AZ TOWN" also suffers from being downstream from yet another major dam, as well as several smaller ones. Better check your facts, they suggest enormous Lake Powell is down too & certainly NOT "AS FULL RIGHT NOW AS IT HAS EVER BEEN". Significantly, they've been raising the level, now ~3638' up from ~3610' in April. According to their 6/24/09 data Powell is at ~65% which is down ~62' from "full pool".

No doubt they're witholding spring snow melt at Powell & minimizing mandated outflow to Mead, attempting to compensate for the serious decline in precipitation. I'm sure you didn't actually mean "MEAD IS DOWN OVER 1100 FT." that refers to surface elevation. The biggest exaggeration you can make is that "MEAD IS DOWN" ~139 FT. from the record fullest it "HAS EVER BEEN" b/c of flood conditions! Its at ~43% capacity & near levels seen in '55 & '65 b/c of drought. I've read where the Park Service is reopening roads built previously to access the reservoir when its low.

I won't trouble you w/the dramatically different capacities of the various reservoirs, the harsh reality of precipition data, the politics that control these spigots on finite water resources in the west, or the fact that so many towns out west would never have even come into existence w/o the dams. "ALL" you seem to care about is your Lake Mead boat ramp & don't give a dam about the prolonged drought, the Colorado River itself, or "THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE" near it's mouth.

All I can tell you is to get used to it. The water doesn't "COME OUT OF MEAD". It comes out of the Colorado River. The reservoir is just a bucket to collect water. It can hold ~2 years worth of river flow. The river is the spring that fills the bucket.
Chuck Gano
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 269
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:57 pm
Location: shores of mississippi river ill

Post by Chuck Gano »

brian, theres a lot of good guides on the vrgas side most are out of vegas bay where they use nice comfortable houseboats and from what i hear do very well for their guests, im sure any of the major hotels could get you in touch with a reputable guide, not sure what the rental fees are for renting a boat for the day, but a guide would be the best bet for you i think, with limited time and all, its been hot but the fishing has been good, on this side anyway and people say the nevada side is even better,charlie
User avatar
Brian F.
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3536
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2003 1:23 am
Location: Hilo, Hawaii

Post by Brian F. »

Hey Charlie, Thanks! There are also a lot of people who relocated from here to LV over the years. If I'm really lucky, I'll find some ex-surfcaster to fish with.
Chuck Gano
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 269
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:57 pm
Location: shores of mississippi river ill

Post by Chuck Gano »

brian
youll proably find your old mates standing on a long dock in vegas bay saying where did the water go?, oh no i didnt really say that again did i,lol have a nice stay in vegas and hope you get to fish mead,
charlie
Post Reply