Watercraft deadline looms
Equipment not meeting EPA rules not allowed
If you own an older-model personal watercraft, you better go for a spin around Lake Mead while you still can.
Starting Jan. 1, the National Park Service no longer will allow certain watercraft at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
The ban applies to personal watercraft that do not meet the 2006 emission standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency, namely those powered by carbureted two-stroke motors.
Such watercraft have been shown to discharge 25 percent to 30 percent of their fuel directly into the water. That would be an environmental concern anywhere, but it’s especially alarming at the reservoir that supplies the Las Vegas Valley with 90 percent of its drinking water, Lake Mead Superintendent Bill Dickinson said.
“This pollution has the potential to harm water quality, people’s health and aquatic organisms,” Dickinson said in a statement.
The ban was established a decade ago, but the park service delayed its implementation at Lake Mead until now to minimize the impact on those who own Jet Skis, Sea-Doos, Wave Runners and other personal watercraft. That gave everyone — including manufacturers, dealers and marina operators — plenty of time to prepare, said Kim Roundtree, general manager of Callville Bay Marina at Lake Mead.
Her operation has a rental fleet of 20 personal watercraft that have to be replaced every few years anyway, so the marina has switched over to newer, cleaner machines.
“We’re already in compliance, and we have been for years,” she said. “It’s no skin off our necks. Anything that protects the environment is OK with us.”
At this point, Roundtree said, it would be “practically impossible” for a watercraft owner not to know about the restrictions. “I would have hoped with 10 years warning people have phased them out already,” she said of the old watercraft.
Dave Carter is the owner of Carter Powersports, which opened in the Las Vegas Valley in 1980. He said his dealership hasn’t sold any of the older, noncompliant watercraft for years.
“The people who have them can’t use them anymore. That’s bad for them,” he said.
The ban does not apply to personal watercraft that meet EPA standards through the use of direct-injection two-stroke or four-stroke engines. It also doesn’t apply to boats — at least not yet. Park service officials have recommended expanding the restrictions to include all substandard two-stroke motors, regardless of vessel type, but there are no current plans to do so at Lake Mead.
Even so, Roundtree said, the possibility of that happening is “pretty much out there in the marine community,” and manufacturers have started building motors that are more friendly to the environment.
All personal watercraft will be granted entrance into the recreation area, but starting Jan. 1, park rangers will start to enforce the regulations on the water through education, warnings and, if necessary, citations.
It’s unclear how many watercraft could be affected by the new restrictions.
In 2003, when the rules were being adopted, the EPA estimated that even with a 10-year delay the ban could affect up to half of the personal watercraft typically used. But a lot has changed since then, including advances in motor technology and the adoption of similar environmental restrictions in California and elsewhere.
Roundtree said she hasn’t heard much of anything from her customers about the impending ban at Lake Mead, and she doesn’t really expect to.