I was first introduced to Lake Mead in the summer of 1968 when my father took a job in Henderson, moving us from Long Beach, California. His boss took us to the boat ramp of the Las Vegas Wash, about 10 miles from Henderson. I spent my freshman and sophomore years at Basic High School, which is now Burkholder Middle School.
My dad and I took advantage of Lake Mead, mostly fishing any chance we could get. My friends and I would head out to the lake during the warm — hot — seasons of the year. We moved from Henderson in the summer of 1970 and I pretty much forgot about Lake Mead.
In 1986, I purchased two stand-up jet skis and decided to take a trip back to Lake Mead. That began over 30 years of back and forth visitations to the lake. First were camping trips to Boulder Beach. Then we discovered Temple Bar. We finally bought a mobile home in Callville Bay. During that time, we purchased three boats — we are now on our fourth — and five jet skis.
After five years of trips back and forth from Murrieta, California, to Callville Bay, we noticed that the boat ramp started getting longer and longer and the lake was starting to lower. When we sold the mobile home, the lake was already down 85 feet.
From that time, our trips to Lake Mead didn’t end, but it was sad seeing what was happening to the lake and the big ring forming around the lake’s shorelines. No longer could we take trips in our boat to where the Colorado River came out of the Grand Canyon into the lake.
Over three years ago, my wife and I chose Boulder City to live, selecting a home with a beautiful view of the lake from our backyard. We’d sit out on our deck and reminisce about all the memories we had from Lake Mead, including our children growing up on the lake, taking my dad and my brother, who are now both deceased, on “our manly fishing trips” to taking our grandkids on the lake. We have over 30 years of great memories.
Now it appears our dear lake is in jeopardy. All those of us who use the lake for various reasons are saddened and left with our hands tied on what to do. I’ve reached out to one of our government officials and she just gave me the usual political jargon.
What those of us who use the lake for recreational purposes wonder — and it’s been brought up more than once — is: if they can pipeline oil all the way from Alaska to the lower 48 states, why can’t they build a pipeline-reservoir system that flows from the Midwest or Southeast where, every year, they have major flooding problems?
Couldn’t this be a part of the infrastructural plan? It truly seems like it could be a solution to the drought-ridden West.
The opinions expressed above belong solely to the author and do not represent the views of the Boulder City Review. They have been edited solely for grammar, spelling and style, and have not been checked for accuracy of the viewpoints.