Cottonwood Cove on Lake Mohave closed

A popular recreation spot on Lake Mohave was closed by the National Park Service Monday after its water system failed.

Citing health and safety concerns, park rangers evacuated 100 visitors from Cottonwood Cove, 70 miles southeast of Las Vegas.

Park Service spokeswoman Roxanne Dey said the well system that supplies water to the area broke down sometime Monday morning, leaving people there with no way to fight a structure fire or wash their hands.

"There's no way to get water out of the well right now, and the backup well is down," Dey explained. "We just didn't think it was safe to keep visitors in the area."

Lake Mohave, on the Colorado River above Davis Dam, is managed by the Park Service as part of Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Forever Resorts, LLC, runs a concession operation at Cottonwood Cove that includes a long-term trailer village, an RV park, a store, a cafe and a marina with boat rentals, a gas station and a fuel dock.

All of that has been temporarily closed, as has a 30-room motel at the cove. It is unclear how long the area will be off limits to visitors, but Dey predicted repairs would take "two or three days easy."

The park service is in the midst of upgrading the water and sewer systems at Cottonwood Cove and elsewhere in the recreation area. Dey said Cottonwood Cove's backup well is down because of the upgrade, but the work is not believed to have caused the main well to fail.

Rangers have set up a barrier on the access road to the cove, and water is being trucked in from Searchlight for emergency use.

Dey said signs announcing the closure were being posted around the lake and on message boards along major highways leading into the area.

"We regret any inconvenience this emergency water closure has had on our visitors," Lake Mead Superintendent Bill Dickinson said.

Visitors can still get to Lake Mohave at Katherine Landing or Willow Beach on the Arizona side of the reservoir.