State Line Auxilary Ramp

Marina Bum

Marina Bum

Escalante-Class Member
I heard some unsettling news today about the only improved launch ramp left open on the lake. It came from someone with a CUA (a commercial use authorization from Park Service) who said that he was told in a meeting that he’d attended that Park Service is saying that they have no approval and/or no financed plan to further extend the State Line Auxiliary Ramp yet. WHAT?

I wondered why boiler plate was going down now instead of the precast concrete panels that the ramp is built out of. Also why is the concrete plant not back in the parking lot making the panels yet like in 2021/22?

Then he said something about hearing in the meeting there was no money for it and that the ramp could go dry for a while. Then something about a discussion over who should pay for it, Park Service or Aramark. I didn’t quiz him a lot over it, he was in a hurry.

I hope that’s not true but if it’s not why haven’t they started building panels, where is the equipment, and why are the boiler plates going down now?

Can anyone else confirm this or debunk it? If that’s not true does anyone know when we might expect them to start?

I’m leaving my pontoon on the lake behind my HB just in case. If no one can launch and retrieve for any period of time it could be an awesome time to be on the lake crowd wise but otherwise this will make access even worse
 
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I don’t recall them building “panels”. Not sure what that means.

Last time water receded they formed and poured new ramp sections in place. Steel boiler plate was also used to keep ramp open during the pours.

If that’s still the plan this time around, the concrete plant won’t be needed till we drop another 15-20’.

These pics are from January 2022
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Rivergoer said:
I don’t recall them building “panels”. Not sure what that means.

Last time water receded they formed and poured new ramp sections place. Steel boiler plate was also used to keep ramp open during the pours.

If that’s still the plan this time around, the concrete plant won’t be needed till we drop another 15-20’.

These pics are from January 2022
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They had a concrete batching plant in the parking lot on the north side of where the entry comes in from the road; it was down closer to the start of the old ramp. They were proud of that idea of precasting panels and placing them to save downtime and expense. I watched them crane some sections into place with two track hoes working in tandem. Maybe they poured others in place later but initially it was precast that they poured and cured somewhere else. They were working there doing it while I was retrieving a boat. It was a bit un-nerving to be that close to huge equipment. In that scenario Park Service was caught by surprise, a reasonable snowpack and terrible inflow. This time that was not the case.

But that’s really not what I heard about, what I heard is that they really don’t have a funded approved plan in place yet and the question is is that true. If it is true why aren’t they more prepared given that it’s not a surprise at all this time.
 
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Marina Bum said:
I heard some unsettling news today about the only improved launch ramp left open on the lake. It came from someone with a CUA (a commercial use authorization from Park Service) who said that he was told in a meeting that he’d attended that Park Service is saying that they have no approval and/or no financed plan to further extend the State Line Auxiliary Ramp. WHAT?

I wondered why boiler plate was going down now instead of the precast concrete panels that the ramp is built out of. Also why is the concrete plant not back in the parking lot making the panels yet like in 2021/22?

Then he said something about hearing in the meeting there was no money for it and that the ramp could go dry for a while. Then something about a discussion over who should pay for it, Park Service or Aramark. I didn’t quiz him a lot over it, he was in a hurry.

I hope that’s not true but if it’s not why haven’t they started building panels, where is the equipment, and why are the boiler plates going down now?

Can anyone else confirm this or debunk it? If that’s not true does anyone know when we might expect them to start?

I’m leaving my pontoon on the lake behind my HB just in case. If no one can launch and retrieve for any period of time it could be an awesome time to be on the lake crowd wise but otherwise this will make access even worse
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I talked to Belinda at Laketime yesterday concerning my early June and mid-September trips and she said they expect the ramp to be open for both trips. She said that Bill, the owner at Laketime was told by NPS that they were planning to pour concrete through the summer as needed. I mentioned that our group was stranded with a staycation in the boatyard .....we made day trips in our ski boat and kayaks....in Sept of 22 because they were holding off launching while the concrete cured. Apparently, from her description they are going to pour on half the ramp and use the boiler plate on the other half so the ramp will stay open all summer. That would make for very crowded ramp access so Laketime is considering moving up their early launch time to 5 AM. No mention was made of a funding problem or pre-cast slabs and I don't remember any pre-cast slabs in 22 and I was following the ramp build pretty closely although from afar as I didn't get to the lake until 3 days before our intended launch date.
 
RobertGosselin said:
I talked to Belinda at Laketime yesterday concerning my early June and mid-September trips and she said they expect the ramp to be open for both trips. She said that Bill, the owner at Laketime was told by NPS that they were planning to pour concrete through the summer as needed. I mentioned that our group was stranded with a staycation in the boatyard .....we made day trips in our ski boat and kayaks....in Sept of 22 because they were holding off launching while the concrete cured. Apparently, from her description they are going to pour on half the ramp and use the boiler plate on the other half so the ramp will stay open all summer. That would make for very crowded ramp access so Laketime is considering moving up their early launch time to 5 AM. No mention was made of a funding problem or pre-cast slabs and I don't remember any pre-cast slabs in 22 and I was following the ramp build pretty closely although from afar as I didn't get to the lake until 3 days before our intended launch date.
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Bill at Lake Time is a good guy and has built a great program, 100%. Good news if it’s true about plans in place and ready to go from Park Service. Maybe they went to different meetings than the guy I heard it from or maybe he interpreted it differently, that’s possible.

I remember Lake Time really struggled with launches at the low point last time and I watched them pull boats and trailers out with a tandem effort with those tractors on the boiler plate unable to get traction and the tractor higher up pulling them out with a chain wheels firmly on concrete. It was quite a show, impressive.

I was on the ramp with construction going on on the other half, the track hoes were huge, in the 60 ton range and the buckets were swing near me in a way much to close for comfort fashion. I got out of there as quick as possible.

I thought they precast some panels to place them under water and pounded them into place but I could be wrong, I’ve been wrong before. But I think you are definitely right about a crowded ramp this summer, 5:00 am launches would be prudent. I anticipate a complete poop show if one half of the ramp that is less than one half the width of the Wahweap ramp is closed all summer for construction and all other ramps on the lake are high and dry. That means that every craft launched or retrieved on all of Lake Powell will have to be done on about 1/16 of the capacity we used to have. Yikes!

I mean Im sure they’ll get to it but the notion that they aren’t already staging gives me great pause. I mean look at what they did regarding notice to Bullfrog slip and ball lease holders? It doesn’t make me think, Wow these managers really have it together. (It’s not the boots in the ground folks) They have seen this coming as a real possibility for the last two years or more. You’d think the’d be really ready.

Here is what it looked like from the helm of my houseboat at the boiler plate extended Wahweap Ramp being launched around 10:00 am, July the 16 2021. It kinda felt like I was being launched into the D Day invasion, what it might have looked like. Keep in mind there were other ramps open on the lake at this time and the water was higher than it is now. If this is repeated and condensed down to much less ramp it’s going to get very interesting indeed.
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PowellBride said:
I wonder if they are banking on BOR to keep 3520 level through a combo of delaying mandatory releases until fall, and extra releases from upstream?
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Very good point, I think so, maybe they even know. I think BOR will do everything they can to keep power production going until December and then they’ll unleash their new plan and the Government will endorse it as an emergency measure. That’s my gut. And it’s not based on keeping us boaters happy, it will be based on managing your infrastructure and avoiding the embarrassment of the appearance of having done that poorly. Also based on the $120,000,000 of income from the power the dam produces and the need for all the electricity we can produce in an AI electricity hungry country. The turbines have not gone dry since water first touched thin inlets 62 years ago.
 
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Ryan said:
BoR is estimating that we will be below that level come July.

What is the disadvantage of using the plates?

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Traction for a heavy tractor trying to pull 13 tons of houseboat out of the water and wet sand and the combined weight crushes the boiler plate deeper into the sand. The tractor gets sucked sometimes

As far as levels go BOR is free to change up the flow, they must deliver the water on a ten year average. We were just musing about what they could do. I feel like they will try to stave off dead power pool as long as possible by whatever means they have available. Just my guess
 
Marina Bum said:
Traction for a heavy tractor trying to pull 13 tons of houseboat out of the water and wet sand and the combined weight crushes the boiler plate deeper into the sand. The tractor gets sucked sometimes

As far as levels go BOR is free to change up the flow, they must deliver the water on a ten year average. We were just musing about what they could do. I feel like they will try to stave off dead power pool as long as possible by whatever means they have available. Just my guess
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Regarding what the BoR will do, my prediction is that they will draw down the reservoirs higher in the basin (Blue Mesa, Flaming Gorge) by substantial amounts, and reduce outflows to less than the amount required for the ten year average, all to maintain power pool at reduced flow levels.

I don't have a reference to cite, but I recall hearing about language that gives the Secretary of the Interior the power to allocate flows and releases if there is not sufficient water to fulfill the Colorado River compact.
 
drewsxmi said:
Regarding what the BoR will do, my prediction is that they will draw down the reservoirs higher in the basin (Blue Mesa, Flaming Gorge) by substantial amounts, and reduce outflows to less than the amount required for the ten year average, all to maintain power pool at reduced flow levels.

I don't have a reference to cite, but I recall hearing about language that gives the Secretary of the Interior the power to allocate flows and releases if there is not sufficient water to fulfill the Colorado River compact.
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I agree and then BOR has announced recently that they are done waiting on the states to come up with a compromise after they failed to meet the extended deadline of Feb 14 of this year. After that failure BOR put out press release and said that they will write their own plan by December and everyone will have to live with it. That’s when I think the Government will step in and call it an emergency so the states can’t sue over the plan. I could be wrong, I’ve been wrong before but that’s why I think they will hold on until December and then try to maintain above power pool as long as they can. They may not be able to maintain that forever, it would depend on next year’s inflow and their planned releases. I think this could be described as their fallback position.
 
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BJL said:
Just saw an announcement that the April releases from the dam will be 490,000 af.
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That’s been the operating plan for April since the start of the water year I believe, so no changes so far. Which since April is usually a low release month isn’t too surprising, there isn’t much for them to cut.

The big question is cuts to June/July/August (and potentially a bit from May). That’s where they have the most latitude to try to protect the lake level with reduced releases. At this point it seems almost a certainty they’ll have to do that!
 
Rainbowbridge said:
Neil, do you know this from old photos of the old road to Kane wash? old Topo detail? :unsure: This is kinda like a treasure hunt....
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I like Lake Powell archeology too. I was led to understand that the road they are following the grade of was first built by Coconino County in the early 50’s to facilitate ranchers getting down to the creek. I think that later the same road was used or others were built or both to get aggregate for the dam. Anyone else hear that?

As much as the site for the dam was selected for how much water it would back up and for how narrow a spot it could be placed in was the consideration for supplies to make the best concrete possible. The aggregate was trucked up to the top and processed above what is now the boat rental area near Wahweap Marina. On google earth the road that leads from the intersection by the Wahweap hotel to over in front of the Campground and then over to Stateline parking area is labeled something like Concrete Road and shows a whole system of what are now abandoned roads. I spent some time driving and walking around what’s left of them, some were paved and have weeds growing up through them.

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You may recognize this area which is in Wahweap Bay. It’s that curious man made hill just North West of the Boat Rentals dock if you are headed to Lone Rock Beach. Sand King is behind it in this photo looking East. I think what is spilling over the conveyor could be termed reject chips, smaller pieces than they wanted after crushing and processing. There is now a well that draws water for the hotel and marinas sunk deep into this material from up top which acts as a filter for the water draw from the lake as I understand it. From this perspective Boat Rentals is just around this corner to the right with State Line and State Line Auxilary just beyond rentals. Wahweap ramp and marina lay beyond that on the same side.
 
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