Arizona - Bartlett Lake Reservoir

Just an FYI to all the Arizona riders. I talked with SRP this morning and they said that Bartlett Lake Reservoir will continue to be drained until May 2. According to Mark at SRP, there is virtually no chance of the lake level increasing until next winter. It sounded to me like they had a management issue and let to much water out, but according to him they are "well within protocol".

Anyhow, if you didn't already know, the ramps are out of the water except the "club ramp" which is private, so you will have to launch from the shore. To further problems its freaking summer and the place is very busy, but the surface area of the lake is about 1/3 of what it was last year.

We actually saw a collision there last week.

I posted the lake level report and the boat ramp report below. Even though the report says that ramp is underwater it is still closed because they don't want people backing off the end of it. You can get the daily report here.

its gonna be like my first year learning how to ride on the golden calf. hey look everybody! im a black man!!!

The water is down another foot today. If you go this weekend, just make sure you can get your boat out at the end of the day.

Good year to not be in AZ, that sucks. I remember that past season and it was actually great IMO because the lake traffic was down significantly. Hopefully it works out for you this year too.

Originally Posted by watsoc

Good year to not be in AZ, that sucks. I remember that past season and it was actually great IMO because the lake traffic was down significantly. Hopefully it works out for you this year too.

The amount of traffic doesn't matter that much, the fact that what little traffic there is, is now in 1/3 the previous area is pretty dangerous. Last week's accident was crazy. Have you ever heard two boats hit each perpendicularly at about 30 mph? The damage to the boats was crazy. I am still amazed that no one was hurt.

Anyone ride bartlett this weekend?

I don't think anyone went...

With the lake so low and the canyon walls/hills so high, is the wind blocked, or does it come howling down the valley?

In my experiences at Bartlett, the wind tends to howl pretty badly down the canyon. Although you have more experience there than I do, just seems that way, especially early in the season. Towards monsoon season the storms tend to sweep over the mountains and hit the lake all at once instead of following the canyon in. Those are the days to pull the boat out early, more because it is more dangerous with others rushing to pull their boats right when it is hitting

According to the SRP website, they have stopped letting significant amounts of water out of Bartlett, and are letting horseshoe drain about 2000 acre feet a day (into Bartlett). May be too little too late though

Yes, too little too late! We went on Saturday. The ramp is still open but you have to be careful not to back off the end! Someone was launching a large cabin cruiser boat and backed off the end of the ramp. I asked them if they needed help, but they declined. The surface area of the lake is just too damned small for summer time, very crowded and very dangerous. I think we will be going to Apache for most of the summer.

I spoke with Mark at SRP again and he stated that the would let out another 8-10% to work on the emergency spill way just south of the damn. Not a good summer for Bartlett!