3/30 Poor, Sad Lake Mead

So why is Lake Mead sad?  The problem is that when it was first filled, it had a lot more water in it, so they optimistically built marinas, campgrounds, and even stores where they thought the eventual shoreline will be.  Unfortunately, the lake level has been declining ever since because more water is being taken out than nature can add, so the shoreline has receded and left marinas and campground far from shore.  

It is still a beautiful place and there is enough water for fish and boaters, but it is still sad.  This is the road from Las Vegas. 

Nice to be over 62 and have a senior access pass, which gives me free access to all federal parks.  

Normally, I stay at Boulder Beach, but it is getting harder and harder to get campsites as more people are camping these days.  So I ended up at the very far left, at Las Vegas Bay.  Sites are older and smaller here and no where near the water, but there were available sites when I checked in on Thursday.   No hookups, either, but they do have very generous hours when they allow generator use.  See next post for photos. 

The lighter colored "bathtub ring" is where the water level was 60 years ago.  You can see how much bigger and deeper the lake was way back then.  

Look how high the water level was on the far shore.  It was 170' higher then!  

Upstream along the Colorado River is Lake Powell, and there are big problems on that lake with water so shallow in some areas that boats have to take very long routes to get to marinas.  There is some consideration to completely closing that lake and letting the water all come down to Lake Mead.