The Reason For All The Boats On The Las Vegas Strip

If you're in Las Vegas today, you might want to stay clear of the Las Vegas strip, particularly around 4:00 pm. There is going to be a parade of boats, probably at least 30 of them. On trailers, being pulled by their owners. They're going drive in one lane like a parade, going northbound on Las Vegas Blvd, until they've decided they're done.

But why, is the question. Well, boat enthusiasts aren't happy with the potential closures of boating ramps at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. So they're bringing awareness to the issue. Organizer Vince Randall told the Review Journal, "Just of the people I know, we will have 25 to 30 trailers with boats in one lane on the Strip starting close to 4 p.m. There could be more. We will stay in one lane and drive north on the Strip from Tropicana as far as boats owners want to go.”

This comes after a public hearing was held on December 7 in Boulder City. The hearing was held to discuss the boat ramp situation at Lake Mead. Many options were thrown out, including the option of ceasing maintenance of the ramps. In 2019, the National Park Service agreed to five year plan to take care of the ramps. And now they're talking about closing them, when they're only three years into their promise.

That's not sitting well with locals. No ramps means no boating on Lake Mead. A coalition of businesses has been formed to raise awareness of this issue. The owner of Lake Mead Marina, Bruce Nelson, encourages people to speak up so the ramps don't get closed. He told the Review Journal "The park service and the Bureau of Reclamation are taking public comment online about boating on Lake Mead, and people need to speak up and give their opinions."

–Wendy Rush

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I've had so much fun at, and on Lake Mead over the years - as you can see in the pictures. But it's scary what is happening to our lake.

As of last weekend, the depth of Lake Mead is about 1045 feet above sea level, it has lost another 6 feet of water in just one month, and is now at 29% capacity.

The six foot drop in just one month is a lot, but there are a lot of reasons beyond over usage: The Bureau of Reclamation has held back water from Lake Powell to allow power to be generated at the Glen Canyon Dam is one reason, the severe prolonged drought and evaporation are also taking a toll.

If the level continues to fall a water shortage will be declared for 2023. This would mean a reduction in the water allocated to us here in the Vegas valley. Last year we used 242,000 acre feet of water with an allocation of 300,000 acre feet. FYI: An acre foot of water is what two average households use per year.

I know firsthand how low the lake is. How? I had to pay for a prop on a boat rental because I got too close to a rock - that was about 50 feet from the shore!

Have fun on the lake, but be careful out there!

Easy to see how low the lake level has dropped, by the rings.