Lopez Lake is now open for day use, camping and boating again after it was under an evacuation order during the Gifford Fire.
Steve and Debbie Lebard say they couldn’t wait to get back on the water, especially during this heat wave.
“Today's a perfect day,” Steve Lebard said. “Yeah, it is perfect. This is really the start of summer for our area and all the kids are back in school, so we got that going for us too.”
One business reopening at the lake says they lost a lot of annual income during the closure. Mustang Waterpark is open only from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and co-owner Bill Thoming says the closure was tough for business.
“It's been brutal for us because, you know, we only have 80 days to operate,” Thoming said. “Missing eight days is 10% of our season and it's a big number.”
Thoming said they gave refunds to visitors from out of town during the closure and are now offering discounted season tickets. He said he wants to give the most back to the community before the park closes for the year.
“We've invested a lot of our personal income back into this park, adding a lot of things that people have asked for,” Thoming said. “We just try to give everybody what they want and make it a good experience.”
