Retirement Dreams: Lake Mead

We arrived at Lake Mead RV Village early in the day on Monday April 20th. It was a short drive from Las Vegas RV Resort where we spent three fun days in Las Vegas - didn't win anything, but didn't lose too much either.

Our lakefront site was awesome - what a view! This is a nice RV park with large concrete sites. We're here for four days.

It was recently announced that Lake Mead has officially reached the lowest level in 78 years. The drought has really taken its toll on this Lake. The snowfall from the mountains of Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming hasn't been enough to keep up with the water that's being drained from this crucial reservoir. The Colorado River, which provides water and power to 40 million people, is predicted to be only at 52 percent of its average flow this summer. If the lake sinks another 185 feet, the water that's being pumped to the Las Vegas valley would stop flowing because the Hoover Dam would no longer release water. A new deep-water intake is being built so that this doesn't happen. In addition, the National Park Service is extending the lake's boat launch ramps at a cost of $2 million.

This is one of the accessible boat ramps. You can see how far down you have to go now to get into the water. Bob took this picture about where the water used to be when the lake was full.

The picture below is of an old water intake that's not being used anymore. At one time the water was up this high. It gives you a good perspective of how drastically the water levels have fallen.

Despite the fact that the water level is declining, Lake Mead is still a beautiful place for boating. Although there are warnings about a toxic algae in the lake, people are still swimming in it. I questioned the ranger about it, and she said that the algae was clear in this part of the lake, but that it was still present in other areas. We went down to look at the beach, but didn't swim - way to rocky for us.