Odds against Overton launch reopening

In 1998, the water level at Lake Mead spent the summer hovering at about the 1,214-foot elevation mark. That was high enough to cause parking issues at some marinas and even submerge the Pyramid Island causeway.

For recreational boaters, life was good, and it seemed as though it would stay that way. And it did, for two more summers anyway. Then everything began to change.

By October 2001, dropping water levels had resulted in the closure of two of Lake Mead’s 10 launch ramps — first Pearce Ferry, then Government Wash. Both were victims of the severe drought that settled in on the Southwest and the increasing demand for water from the Colorado River system. The loss of Government Wash hit boaters hard because it long had been a high-use facility, especially for anglers who like to fish the Vegas Bay and north shore areas.

Water levels continued to fall and, according to a 2010 report by the National Park Service, with each 20-foot drop the shoreline in some areas moved out as far as 600 feet. Perhaps this is most evident along the beaches north of the Hemenway Launch ramp. Eventually the Las Vegas Bay and Lake Mead marinas moved their operations to Hemenway, but Overton Beach had to close. Not long thereafter, the launch ramps at these facilities also were closed. The last was Overton in 2009.

Ten years have passed since the Government Wash launch ramp was closed, and thanks to last winter’s record snowfall in the mountains of Utah, Wyoming and Colorado, the water level in Lake Mead is rising again. The Lake Mead Marina launch ramp, now known by its original name of Boulder Harbor, was recently reopened after a major dredging project by the Park Service. With the water rising, and more snow expected this year, people are asking when the launch ramp at Overton Beach, the last one to close, will reopen to boaters.

That question, however, doesn’t have a simple answer. When water hits the ramp at Government Wash, and it’s safe to launch, boaters will be able to use the facility, said Andrew Munoz, public information officer for the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. That is because there are no other physical facilities at Government Wash that have to be reopened or rehabbed before they can be used. The bathrooms, for instance, never have been closed.

Overton Beach, however, is another issue. Unlike the ramp closure at Government Wash, all of the physical facilities and infrastructure at Overton Beach were secured for safety and long-term storage. That included mothballing the sewer treatment facility at a cost of about $55,000, steps necessary to ensure it would work properly when the Park Service can one day reopen Overton Beach. The cost to reopen these facilities will be significant, said Munoz, so the Park Service has to make sure the water level required to justify the reopening can be sustained over time.

Also, the Park Service has to consider whether it has the available staff and other resources necessary to properly maintain and patrol the Overton Beach facility.

"Do we spread ourselves thin to provide that access (to the lake) 10 miles closer to Overton?" Munoz said. "Or do we concentrate our resources at Echo Bay to provide the best quality experience we can as far as patrols and maintenance, and ask the public to drive that extra 10 miles to get to Echo Bay?"

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His "In the Outdoors" column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.