The National Parks Service and employees of Lake Powell said the lake is still a great place to vacation, but avid Powell fans definitely notice the experience is lacking.

"You really have to fight for good water," said BYU student Todd Groesbeck.

Lake Powell's water level is 60 percent lower than normal, said Bubba Ketchersid, resident district manager of north Lake Powell properties. But, he said the lake is doing what it is designed to do.

"When it was designed, it was built to keep the lakes below us full in drought years," Ketchersid said.

Despite fulfilling the measure of its creation, Lake Powell has lost over 100 feet of elevation since 1980, and two feet of elevation since June 1 of this year. This past weekend, the National Park Service closed two of Powell's primary boat ramps, Bullfrog Marina and the Stateline Launch ramp. Hall's Crossing and the main ramp at Wahweap remain open.

The ramps needed to close because the receding water level has exposed the end of the cement ramps leading down into the lake. The National Parks Service is waiting for the water level to reach the lowest level for the year before they begin maintenance on the ramps because of the cost of repairs.

Ketchresid said casual visitors to the lake would never know the difference in the water level because it is a huge lake.

Groesbeck and his family, who make trips to Lake Powell two or three times a year, arrived at the lake last week to find a partially full parking lot but a packed lake. Groesbeck said the water levels made a huge difference in the quality of his Lake Powell boating experience.

"The place we love to ski is usually this big open area," Groesbeck said. "But there were so many boats there, the driver could hardly even watch the skier because there were just boats going back and forth."

Ketchersid said many boaters hear the two ramps are closed and assume the lake is closed. But, Ketchersid said there are still 1,500 to 2,000 boats that come in and out of the lake on a busy weekend.

"You just go with the flow," Ketchersid said. "We overcome, adapt, our doors are open, you know we're running like we did two years ago, we're just running a little differently."

Lake Powell still boasts great fishing, plenty of shoreline and large sandy beaches, according to the National Park Services Web site, but for guest with houseboats, it's hard to find places to camp.

Samantha Johnson of Pleasant Grove went to Lake Powell with her family three weeks ago. Johnson said last year she noticed tops of trees sticking out of the water where her family camped. When they went back this year, she said the trees were twenty or thirty feet over their heads.

Johnson said her family usually has to take their speedboat to get out to where her houseboat is docked, but this year, they could almost swim to it.

"It was so much closer," Johnson said. "The water on the boat launch ramp has gone down a ton."

Although the water levels are obviously low, Lake Powell management as well as the Park Service said there are still ways to enjoy the lake.

The Management Assistant for the National Parks Service, Shar Obergh said the perfect way to enjoy the lake is to rent a boat. She said if guests don't have their own boat they need to worry about docking, they won't even notice the difference in the water level.

"That's a perfect way to enjoy the lake," Obergh said.

"The lake is certainly down," she said. "But there's still a lot of lake here to enjoy."



Copyright Brigham Young University 12 Jul 2004