Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Junior high students spread word on Lake Mead ban on two-stroke engines

Lake MEad campaign

Contributed

Greenspun Junior High Leadership Club students, standing from left, eighth-grader Reilly Webster, seventh-grader Zach Fedarko, sixth-grader Jennifer Haberstock, seventh-grader Nadia Matic and sixth-grader Cyan Reed; sitting from left are seventh-grader Alicia Murillo, eighth-grader Victoria Fontanelli, sixth-grader Lauren Taylor, and Gwen Buckles, Leadership Club adviser. The students were testing water quality at Lake Mead Marina as part of their Lake MEad public service campaign.

Map of Lake Mead National Recreation Area

Lake Mead National Recreation Area

601 Nevada Way, Boulder City

A group of Greenspun Junior High School students has created a multimedia campaign to raise awareness about Lake Mead’s ban on personal watercraft with two-stroke engines.

The school’s Leadership Club students, led by educators Gwendolyn Buckles and Katie Litzenberg, has embarked on a campaign to educate, friends, family and the community. Their campaign “Lake Mead” focuses on the effect pollution has on the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and what the lake means to them as residents of Southern Nevada.

The students have created public-service announcements for television and radio, as well as fliers, to use to increase awareness and support the ban on the two- stroke engines at Lake Mead.

The National Parks Service said carbureted two-stroke engines have been shown to discharge 25-30 percent of their fuel directly into lake waters, resulting in high levels of hydrocarbon emissions that have the potential to harm water quality, people's health and aquatic organisms.

A ban on personal watercrafts with carbureted two-stroke engines at Lake Mead was announced in 2003 and had a 10-year phase-in. Park rangers at Lake Mead began full enforcement of the ban on Jan. 1, 2013.

The students prepared their campaign during their after-school club, which meets weekly from 1:45 to 2:45 p.m. Wednesdays. In preparation, club members toured the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and worked with experts to educate themselves about the damage done by carbureted two-stroke engines.

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