Lake Mead & The Hoover Dam
Having done the helicopter tour of the Canyon, we thought, let's do the same with the Dam, only this time we also went inside the Dam, sailed in Lake Mead right up to the Dam and then flew over it as well. We were bombarded with information about the size of the Dam, how long it took to build, the electricity it generates and the water it supplies. Too much to take in, but what came over loud and clear was that the Dam is absolutely essential to the whole of the West Coast of America and literaly provides water to millions & millions of people. In fact Las Vegas only gets about 3% of the water, the rest is suppled all the way down the West side of America from Los Angeles to Mexico.
With the Arizona and Nevada areas being in drought for the last decade or more, the water level has dropped significantly, which is seen by the white "tide" line that is very visable on the lakes walls. We also enjoyed a 1 /2 hour trip on the Desert Princess [paddle steamer] ... it was so windy on board the top deck [not called the hurricane deck for nothing !!] that I was afraid my specs would get blown off, So I took them off and put them in the camera bag .... which meant that when we got to the Hoover Dam, I could barley even see it !!! . Sight seeing has a whole new meaning to it.
With the Arizona and Nevada areas being in drought for the last decade or more, the water level has dropped significantly, which is seen by the white "tide" line that is very visable on the lakes walls. We also enjoyed a 1 /2 hour trip on the Desert Princess [paddle steamer] ... it was so windy on board the top deck [not called the hurricane deck for nothing !!] that I was afraid my specs would get blown off, So I took them off and put them in the camera bag .... which meant that when we got to the Hoover Dam, I could barley even see it !!! . Sight seeing has a whole new meaning to it.