Dry weather hampers boating in some parts of the state

Memorial Day is usually one of the busiest boating days of the year, but not this time around.It’s so dry, the water levels of many western Iowa lakes are -almost- too low to allow recreational boating. In Council Bluffs, D-N-R conservation officer Doug Clayton says Lake Manawa was quiet Monday and at “high noon we had hardly any boat traffic out at all.”Clayton, who oversees the lake at the Iowa state park, says the water level is down more than a foot from where it usually is at this time of year.While Lake Manawa usually sees one million visitors a year, Clayton says this could be a very short summer without significant, prolonged rainfall.