We had an experience last week I thought you all may be interested in hearing about. Last Sunday (6/18) we found a fantastic beach on the West side of Kane Creek Wash that provided us shade at around 4 p.m. – perfect for the 110-degree weather last week! When we arrived, there was a houseboat already beached next to us named Desert Oasis. One in our party spoke with one of their party briefly – he was told that they were families from Idaho and had over 20 children and many adults in their group – all on one +/- 70’ ‘normal’ 1990’s houseboat. Seemed like a lot of people on one boat, but OK. It’s nice to see families having fun on the lake.
Monday morning, we are having coffee on our back deck and we observe a steady stream of persons from said houseboat carrying a shovel and toilet paper up the sandy beach in front of their houseboat and over the top of the sand dune out of sight, then reappearing a few minutes later without toilet paper, only the shovel. We observed this many, many, times on Monday and Tuesday, both adults and children, men and women.
I did not actually know if they were burying human waste and told our guests that they may have a bucket behind the dune that they are shoveling their waste into – trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. But if they have a bucket, why the shovel?
On Tuesday, I called NPS and reported what we were observing. They were genuinely concerned and promised a ranger visit early Wednesday morning to investigate. Unfortunately, the houseboat left the next morning before the ranger arrived – but we did go look over the top of the sand dune after the houseboat left and was shocked. Toilet paper everywhere, MANY holes dug in the sand and covered with sand. I did not go down the sand hill, but it was clear there was no bucket that was used and it was highly likely raw human waste was buried everywhere.
The ranger arrived around noon Wednesday and confirmed our worst fears – lots and lots of human waste buried behind the sand dune in many separate holes. Yes, I did see the ranger digging some out himself. The ranger said they were trying to locate the Desert Oasis boat and the persons responsible for the mess. The ranger said the area required a clean-up and someone would be out soon to do it. Two of us provided witness statements and the rangers left. As of this morning – 3 days later, I’m pretty sure the clean-up had not started yet (I didn’t go verify before we left today but had not seen anyone).
Moral of the story – Lake Powell is a great place to bring family and friends, but common sense should tell you that if your holding tank on your houseboat is not large enough to handle 30 plus people for a week, an option IS NOT to bury all the extra waste in the sand very near what will be high water this year (or bury it anywhere at all for that matter). This makes me furious on one hand and sad on the other that people would think this action was acceptable on the lake in full, clear view of 4 beached boats including our own. I hope the mess gets cleaned up and that the perpetrators on Desert Oasis are treated appropriately from a legal perspective.
BTW – the ranger told us that the fine for leaving human waste behind in your campsite is $310….. wait for it…….for each poop left! This same houseboat party also was observed burying food waste in the sand in front of their boat – I don’t know what the fine is for that but the rangers did find it.
p.s – I contemplated not mentioning the name of the houseboat in this post, but not knowing if the NPS had actually located the perpetrators of this crime, I decided to post it hoping that possibly someone on Waynes Words may know who the individuals are who did this – if you do, please contact NPS and let them know. If NPS knows who this is I'll edit the post and remove the incriminating information.
Monday morning, we are having coffee on our back deck and we observe a steady stream of persons from said houseboat carrying a shovel and toilet paper up the sandy beach in front of their houseboat and over the top of the sand dune out of sight, then reappearing a few minutes later without toilet paper, only the shovel. We observed this many, many, times on Monday and Tuesday, both adults and children, men and women.
I did not actually know if they were burying human waste and told our guests that they may have a bucket behind the dune that they are shoveling their waste into – trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. But if they have a bucket, why the shovel?
On Tuesday, I called NPS and reported what we were observing. They were genuinely concerned and promised a ranger visit early Wednesday morning to investigate. Unfortunately, the houseboat left the next morning before the ranger arrived – but we did go look over the top of the sand dune after the houseboat left and was shocked. Toilet paper everywhere, MANY holes dug in the sand and covered with sand. I did not go down the sand hill, but it was clear there was no bucket that was used and it was highly likely raw human waste was buried everywhere.
The ranger arrived around noon Wednesday and confirmed our worst fears – lots and lots of human waste buried behind the sand dune in many separate holes. Yes, I did see the ranger digging some out himself. The ranger said they were trying to locate the Desert Oasis boat and the persons responsible for the mess. The ranger said the area required a clean-up and someone would be out soon to do it. Two of us provided witness statements and the rangers left. As of this morning – 3 days later, I’m pretty sure the clean-up had not started yet (I didn’t go verify before we left today but had not seen anyone).
Moral of the story – Lake Powell is a great place to bring family and friends, but common sense should tell you that if your holding tank on your houseboat is not large enough to handle 30 plus people for a week, an option IS NOT to bury all the extra waste in the sand very near what will be high water this year (or bury it anywhere at all for that matter). This makes me furious on one hand and sad on the other that people would think this action was acceptable on the lake in full, clear view of 4 beached boats including our own. I hope the mess gets cleaned up and that the perpetrators on Desert Oasis are treated appropriately from a legal perspective.
BTW – the ranger told us that the fine for leaving human waste behind in your campsite is $310….. wait for it…….for each poop left! This same houseboat party also was observed burying food waste in the sand in front of their boat – I don’t know what the fine is for that but the rangers did find it.
p.s – I contemplated not mentioning the name of the houseboat in this post, but not knowing if the NPS had actually located the perpetrators of this crime, I decided to post it hoping that possibly someone on Waynes Words may know who the individuals are who did this – if you do, please contact NPS and let them know. If NPS knows who this is I'll edit the post and remove the incriminating information.
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