Pardon my reservoir ignorance, but are the boat launches there *really*
long, or what? How does trailering work with the water levels so low?


I'm used to (at the very most) a 20-ish foot vertical difference between
high tide and low, so I can barely imagine a 98' drop between full and
half-empty...


Both Lake Mead and Lake Powell are National Recreation Areas, so the public
facilities such as ramps are managed and maintained by the National Park
Service. As you can imagine, maintaining launch ramps during this difficult
period has been a real challenge. Especially when you consider that a 98'
vertical drop in the lake level represents a much longer distance water has
receded on the much more horizontal launch ramps. This also represent huge
logistical challenges for the operators of the marinas on the lakes. All
marinas are free-floating affairs, tethered to the bottom with steel cables
leading to large concrete anchors and floating walkways to shore. As the
water recedes, the entire marina must be moved closer to the middle of the
lake.

The base structure of the ramps are indeed quite long, but that hasn't been
as much of a help as you might imagine. Since these are both man-made
lakes, the ramps were built as the lakes started filling. Lake Mead started
filling sometime in the 1930's, and Lake Powell started filling in 1963.
The problem is that sections of the ramp recently exposed by the receding
waterline have been underwater for many years and are not in the best of
shape. The strategy being used by the Park Service is to chase the receding
waterline with renovated ramps and fresh concrete. Unfortunately, this has
been of little help during receding waterline times, since there are no
guarantees as to the condition of the ramp just beyond the waterline. This
has been more of a problem for larger boats than smaller boats. Many ramps
have been out of service for the past couple of years. Some have been made
usable by laying steel gratings down beyond the waterline.

The strategy of chasing the waterline with fresh concrete is really a bet
for the future. Just as when a 10' vertical drop meant a much longer area
of newly exposed ramp, the reverse hold true. A 10' vertical rise inundates
a much longer section of brand new launch ramp. Fortunately we had decent
levels of precipitation this winter and just such a bounce in the lake
levels has been realized. Mead immediately benefited from rain runoff, and
Powell is now seeing runoff from snowmelt in the Colorado Rockies. Current
levels are 30-50' above their lows from late last year. Yes, that means
that Lake Powell was down nearly 140' from full, at only 36% of capacity, as
I recall. Currently, launching conditions are good at both lakes, but much
if not all of the recent gains in water levels will be given back by the end
of the year. It will likely take decades to reverse the fall in these
massive lakes, if it happens at all. For a good representation of the
launch ramp challenges at Lake Powell, go he

http://www.wayneswords.com/primative.htm

"Garth Almgren" wrote in message
...
Around 7/5/2005 7:34 AM, RG wrote:

"Eddie" wrote in message
...

On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 12:43:51 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing
wrote:

Somebody told me that Lake Mead is almost going dry - I read that
somewhere.

I was at Lake Mead June 14th and the Hoover Dam guide said it's full.



You have been sadly misinformed. Lake Mead's water level is currently at
1141 ft above sea level, which is 88 feet below full pool, or 57% of
capacity. Lake Powell's water level is currently at 3602 feet, which is
98
feet below full pool, or 49% of capacity. That's an awful lot of water
missing, considering the immense size of both reservoirs.

Pardon my reservoir ignorance, but are the boat launches there *really*
long, or what? How does trailering work with the water levels so low?


I'm used to (at the very most) a 20-ish foot vertical difference between
high tide and low, so I can barely imagine a 98' drop between full and
half-empty...


--
~/Garth - 1966 Glastron V-142 Skiflite: "Blue-Boat"
"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats."
-Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

There is still 3-400' of water depth. Lake Oroville in Calif. last year was
down 140' and they were building low water ramps with gravel next to the
paved ramps. The paved ramps handle about 130' of down water. Still 400'
of water in the lake at 140' down.