UPDATE: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE COMMENT PERIOD EXTENDED UNTIL JANUARY 22, 2023.
IMPORTANT: IT IS IMPORTANT TO READ THE FULL BRIEFING BEFORE YOU COMMENT. THIS ACTION ALERT FORM BELOW WILL SEND COMMENTS TO BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. THERE ARE CURRENTLY TWO PLANNING PROCESSES THAT ARE INTERRELATED, AND LAKE MEAD USERS NEED TO BE SUBMITTING FEEDBACK ON BOTH PROCESSES. OUR ACTION ALERT FORM WILL ENBLE YOU TO COMMENT ON BOTH PROCESSES AT ONCE.
Full Briefing:
The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) will be accepting public comment until December 20, 2022.
Bureau of Reclamation will be be adapting the 2007 Interim Guidelines to address current low water levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead in order to adequately address hydrology, economy and agricultural needs due to unprecedented low water levels. The Department of Interior recognizes, “given that water levels continue to decline, additional action is needed to protect the System”.
BlueRibbon Coalition has been involved in the public comment process throughout 2022 in order to create guiding principles that will support continued use and sustainable water levels on Lake Powell as well as Lake Mead. Thousands of our members have also submitted comments as the Bureau of Reclamation has started the process to draft the 2026 Operating Guidelines. However, a supplementary Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) is needed to address low water levels until the new 2026 guidelines are created. This is why we are having this current comment period.
BOR will create alternatives in order to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that will address future conditions on the Colorado River Basin. The preliminary proposed action would, “decrease the quantity of water that shall be apportioned for consumptive use in the Lower Division States (Arizona, California, and Nevada)” and “to modify and/or reduce the quantity of water released from Glen Canyon Dam.” It would also provide a mid-year review to analyze current conditions in the two reservoirs.
We have previously released our plan for the Path to 3588′ to stabilize the lake levels of Lake Mead and Lake Powell that was recognized by the Bureau of Reclamation. We encourage you to comment to BOR that they should strongly consider this plan as they create this (SEIS) and develop alternatives. Also, we believe the BOR should recognize the value of recreation in all of the developed alternatives.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, outdoor recreation had a record breaking year in 2021. Outdoor recreation now accounts for $821 billion in economic activity. For reference, the oil and gas industry is $812 billion. Outdoor recreation is popular. It is an economic juggernaut. Yet, public land agencies act as if this nearly $1 trillion dollar industry is optional or an
afterthought. Instead of building new ramps, campgrounds, and infrastructure to accommodate the new growth in outdoor recreation, land managers are relentlessly closing areas and resources for the public to use. It doesn’t make any sense.
This is exactly what is happening with Lake Mead. The National Park Service is currently accepting comments on a proposal to either adapt current recreation amenities and infrastructure or to either temporarily or permanently close marinas, ramps, and facilities. This comment period ends on January 22, 2023, and NPS staff have told us that if Bureau of Reclamation doesn’t adopt a plan to stabilize and recover the lake levels, NPS won’t have much choice for keeping facilities open at Lake Mead.
Because it is complicated to appropriately comment to both agencies that will be impacting the future of these reservoirs, we have prepared an action alert (at the top of this page) that will send your comments to both agencies at the same time. We have included feedback you can send that will share your support for our Path to 3588′ Plan to stabilize the water levels at both reservoirs. We have also placed a special emphasis on supporting the National Park Service in choosing an option to make adaptations to current facilities to keep infrastructure on Lake Mead open (referred to as Option 1 in the plan). It is our hope that the users of both lakes will unite in support of these efforts since the operation of both lakes is completely interconnected. Please enter your address in the form above to let the tool know which member of Congress to send the message to, then you will see and have ability to edit the message. When you send the message it will go to appropriate contacts at Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, and the offices of your members of Congress.
Save Lake Mead!
We Love boating on lake Meade n have invested 80,000 on our boat , to close would be devastating to a lot of people
The plans to stop all motorized boating on Lake Mead is wrong and should not be considered The financial impact alone with the thousands and thousands of family boarders not to mention the Bass fishermen would be devastated a few of the Marinas around the Lake Hemenay and Temple Bar are getting things done with the help of the concessionaires that run the Marinas with their own boat launches and people that are taking care of the park.
Please remember that the National Recreation Areas are for the Public on Public Lands that we the people own. Thank you
Boating is a way of life passed down in many families from generations. It puts all kinds of money in the county’s and area.
Give the young people a way of life that the parents and grandparents had and have today will still enjoy.
Please keep our beautiful lake open! We have generations of families who have used this lake. Please don’t take away access for recreational users. Thank you for your consideration.
Please keep the lake open for the boaters. We have been coming there for years. The marina has been there since 1957. It’s the only recreational place and has made us so many great memories.
We need to save our lakes. It is important for our economy and the livelihood of many people.
My family and I have been going to and using lake mead to boat, camp, ski, and just enjoy a day out on the water whenever possible. If we are not able to get out and enjoy the water it will change our way of life. It also helps people stay active, get outside and exercise which in turn leads to a healthier community. I would like for many many generations to come to be able to enjoy the same benefits from lake mead as we do.
We need lake mead for family activities
As the 5th most visited national park/recreation area, Lake Mead, as well as Lake Powel, is a natural magnet for people. It is a cool liquid gem in the stark deserts that surround it. People come to fish, to swim, to sail, to water ski, to cruise, to picnic, to hike and to just enjoy the beauty around them. They come from all over the world……….to Lake Mead.
The drive is there, it is real. This will occur through high water and low. Don’t close access, particularly when conditions CAN, and will change. Public use will not change the lake levels. BOR and the Western States Water Alliances can control some changes. Until we can control the weather and the snow and water that come down the Colorado river, we will have to live with what weather conditions arrive. Predictions are not given facts.
The health of the economy of the surrounding areas is tied closely to the recreational opportunities offered by Lake Mead. We need to keep that economy strong. We need to keep Lake Mead and Lake Powell open for business
I own three boats that have been docked at Las Vegas Boat Harbor for over 17 years… I have been a boater since I was 25years old in Lake Michigan to Lake Pleasant Arizonia to Lake Mead, Nevada… One boat is a 65′ house boat and one is a 35′ Cruiser. I have been in business most of my 70 year life and have been in the top tax bracket paying big tax dollars to our federal government… now I am planning to retire with my wife of 45 years and I hear the federal government is proposing to shut Lake Mead Down… this would cause me and the wife much stress at our age not to mention the financial burden to sell or move my boats. This proposal is not fair!
This will hurt more than boaters. It will hurt Las Vegas and Nevada significantly…..residents, businesses, manufacturers, tourists, state and federal tax returns, home sales for new residents and existing residents who will try to leave….if they can even sell their homes.
I hope the state of Nevada will aggressively fight for Lake Mead as well.
Honestly, these proposals make me sick…I will never vote for anyone who supports these ideas. I probably won’t sleep tonight….I am in a shocked state.
I hope to receive a list of the officials who support these ideas….the belong out of office and unemployed without severance,
Because lake levels will have a definite low point beyond which water cannot be accessed, why do our plans not simply go to those levels, since we seem to be within 100 feet of them at this point? Addressing these lower levels while we have access to them seems prudent, and forward-thinking. When conservation measures are put in place to allow the lake levels to rise again, we will have already improved access to the lower levels, should we have to access the lake at those levels again in the future. We certainly hope not! Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, we will preserve the thousands of jobs our lakes support and the billions of economic dollars that are generated for our communities.
Please stop trying to take away our lake from us boaters and outdoorsman. My family takes our new boat out every week to go bass fishing and to get out and away from the buzz of the city. If closed to motorized vessels this negatively impact and just devastate boaters, small businesses and everyone like myself, born and raised here in Vegas and going out on the boat to enjoy for as long as I can remember. Please do not take away our ability to enjoy the lake on our boats the way we always have been. The loss will be too much. There has to be a way we can find the funding and resources to fix this, considering all the government money sent to other countries for their problems.
We have been boating regularly at Lake Mead for the last 35 years….with our two sons, their families, and a host of friends that we have made during our visits. Lake Mead is a vital part of our lives….we also purchased a home in Henderson to accommodate us all.
Congress is giving billions of $ to Ukraine. Congress needs to hold back a billion $ for the Park Service to pay for this Lake Mead project and others?
My tax paying dollars are better spent this way than in Ukraine.
Stop wasting water and save our state! Lake are an intregal part of our ecosystem and desperately needed for states livelyhood. We live off the animals that live off the land the water is feeding.
My husband and I are frequent visitors to Lake Mead. There is a huge difference between Lake Mead National Recreation Area and Lake Mead, the water storage reservoir for the southwest US. Those of us that use Lake Mead for recreation know there is plenty of water to have a wonderful time. We just want to be able to safely launch our boats. Cement launch ramps may be a thing of the past but there are many other surfaces used for launching boats in the US and around the world. Most are temporary and moveable to another location once the topography requires it. Reducing services on Lake Mead simply cannot be an option. Lake Mead is the Jewel of the Desert and should be maintained as a playground for generations to come!
I am 75 years old and have enjoyed Lake Mead all my life. I still have 3 boats and hope to be able to enjoy boating forever. Future generations of kids should be allowed to enjoy Lake Mead and enjoy some nature in their lives. It looks like the lake will be smaller, but there are small lakes everywhere that have boating. Ramps are of course needed so locals and tourists can put their boats in and out of the lake safely. Thank you for listening to my plea–Las Vegas is a great city and Lake Mead is a big part of the charm of Las Vegas-NATURE IS GOOD !! Thank you-Gary Craden
‘m getting VERY tired of the government agencies answer to everything being yet another closure. Do your jobs! MANAGE for a change!