Western Drought is Grounding Boaters: New York Times

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Page 2 of 3 deeper area. Three boat ramps also have been closed and others have been extended using park entrance fees and state money. The repairs are costly, but recreation officials say they can't be avoided because unsubmerged ramps scrape boat engines. Besides contending with dry ramps, boaters are dodging sandbars, reefs -- even the remains of a town, Dey said. St. Thomas, an early Mormon settlement in Nevada that was abandoned when Hoover Dam was built, has resurfaced. The steps of a school house and foundations from other buildings poke through exposed soil in some areas, Dey said. Despite the drought, there is still plenty of water for boaters on the lake, said Bob Walsh, a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation spokesman. "What people need to be careful of is that the character of the lake has changed because it has dropped so much," Walsh said. "There are objects out there that have not been visible for years." Things that were once hidden below the water also are resurfacing at Lake Powell on the Arizona - Utah line. At more than 186 miles long, Lake Powell is the country's second - largest manmade lake and one of two main reservoirs on the Colorado River. For some boaters visiting Lake Powell, its new views are welcome. Visitors are discovering canyons and red rock formations that were once submerged, and docking at beaches that didn't exist before, said Karen Scates, deputy director of the Arizona Office of Tourism. Bill Johnson, of Peoria, Ariz., who took his 27 -foot cabin cruiser to Lake Powell in June, said he is eager to see newly emerged prehistoric rock drawings and carvings when he visits again in September. "It's a whole new experience," he said. The problems of drought aren't limited to the West. In Nebraska, Lake McConaughy is 25 percent full -- a near - record low, said Nik Johanson, assistant superintendent of Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area. Brick and concrete foundations of old farmsteads are poking out of the water and park officials find new trees protruding from the state's largest reservoir daily. South Dakota has taken a financial hit trying to maintain one of the Missouri River's main reservoirs. Lake Oahe used to extend from near Pierre up about 50 miles into North Dakota. It now stops near the state line. Two marinas on Lake Oahe that used to have 140 slips for people to tie up their boats now have 40, said Bob Schneider of South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks. Out of 32 boat ramps, only 13 remain open. The state has spent $2.7 million in the last two years to maintain access on the lake, Schneider said. But they are still losing money because people don't know the lake is open, and those who do often don't want to wait in line, Schneider said. 8/23/2004