Ahem … a few things come to mind here, paramount. First of all, how close are these lakes to well-paying jobs? You know … the kind you can raise a family (or two parents can raise a family) with? Want to work at the local Kerr McGee truck stop washing diesels or in the cash cage selling cigs? Or . . . are you ready to “retire” now??
And I’m sure you’re aware that these “cheap lots” don’t have any utilities. How much would it cost to hook up to gas and electricity? Or set up a propane tank, dig a leachfield and buy and bury a septic tank? And are you SURE you can get high-speed internet on ALL those lots?
Just an FYI, paramount, not THESE lakes, mind you, but in the last eight years, I’ve swam near a “renowned” beach for about three hours in a large lake and also was waterskiing in a (separate) lake, both in this region. The first time (swimming), I came home on a plane 1.5 days later with my head literally bursting before I deplaned. I rushed to an urgent care clinic where it turned out I had a double ear infection. After having them irrigated for 1.5 hrs (very painful), I was given an antibiotic shot and put on massive antibiotics for 2 weeks. On a subsequent trip, I was only in the water long enough to put on my ski and swim back to the boat. I then used some leftover prescription ear drops I had on the second day of my drive home. The next day, I went to the doctor to find out one of my ears was infected and was again put on antibiotics.
These ARE the same lakes that I remember spending my summers at as a child/teen but the WATER IN THEM is NOT the same. Many of the beaches don’t have any waste receptacles and the beach user is supposed to carry out their trash. However, party-animal teens get in there on weekends and college breaks and leave their trash everywhere, which floats out into the water. There’s no one to police the beaches or collect trash (hence no trash cans). There is very little personnel to police the water quality for the entire state and the state parks (where most of these large “resort-type” lakes are) are far apart from one another. It’s not uncommon to see many dead fish collected together on these beaches and their adjacent inlets.
The “boat ramps” are often unmaintained (have lower partial dropoffs, unbeknownst to authorities), can be very slippery, and depending on water level and what the boater is driving to back their boat into the water, it could be easy for them to lose their vehicle in the water. I’ve seen this happen several times and in all the times I’ve watched the vehicle go under, there were (fortunately) no people or animals in it and the driver bailed. On a couple of occasions, bystanders were successfully able to push the vehicle back up the “ramp” and instruct the driver how to drive out. The rest of the times the vehicle was lost and there were no authorities for miles around. I’ve also watched someone trash the lower end of their engine and prop on a large dead tree trunk which fell into the bottom of the “boat ramp” (again, unbeknownst to authorities).
Ahh, but you’re planning on storing your boat out of the water (on belts) in one of those fancy steel boathouses on foam tanks at your “resort,” right? Well, paramount, I hope you don’t mind jellyfish …. everywhere! They lay their eggs on and under the ladders leading into the water and park themselves everywhere on the insides and under the floor of your boathouse. EVERYTHING you touch within 2′ of the water is covered in slime. But you’ll get used to it.
Due to both wastewater and dam mismanagement, you can often see a line of thick bubbles (detergent) formed both up and downstream when you drive over a dam.
Oh, but there’s more. In the last 3 years, but very notably in 2012, there’s been dozens of (temporary, lol) lake closures there due to a flesh-eating bacteria found in them, causing several deaths and dozens of amputations.
The aerial views, travel photos (just like your links) and boating and fishing videos all show beautiful forested lakes with multiple islands that would take more than a week to explore. They advertise 18-hole golf, state-run log cabins, well-stocked lakes, nice beaches, houseboat tours, endless waterskiing, plenty of boat gas stations, fireworks, ETC. It all LOOKS like a lot of fun!
What happened to these lakes? Three words … crystal meth mfg. These “lucrative enterprises” were run out of SD, RIV and SB Counties in CA by teams of law enforcement from multiple agencies in the late nineties. Where did all this biz defect to? You guessed it. Those “flyover states” of TX, OK and AR are now infiltrated with them. These states typically operate with 1/4 to 1/5 of the law enforcement personnel (per capita) that CA has. But these “enterprising biz folks” didn’t “set up shop” in the middle of cities and towns there (much too much oversight). No-o-o-o. They made a beeline for the once pristine rural heartland where …. you guessed it again! NO ONE IS MINDING THE STORE, leaving them free to spread their poison and filth in the groundwater and waterways! And the “lone park ranger” resides 30-50 miles away.
I have relatives who have lived in these regions all of their lives and the water coming out of their faucets is has been NON-POTABLE for the past two years. A warning not to drink it is on billboards and constantly broadcast on local on TV and radio stations. It is also “rusty looking” due to the red clay there but is safe to bathe and wash dishes and clothes in.
paramount, I think you have a lot of “homework” to do before you decide to up and “relocate” out of T-town, Cali. Since this region doesn’t quite have a handle yet on this “seemingly intractable” problem, I’ll get you started with these links on the first page of your search:
This is what happens when state governments believe “personal freedoms” trump collecting enough taxes to have adequate “gubment bureaucrats” on staff to oversee these important “quality of life” issues which we take for granted here in “overtaxed” CA.
