At Rock Creek Marina near Perry Lake, the Fourth of July passed like a normal weekday rather than the bustling summer holiday it usually is on the water.

“Nobody could get their boats out on the lake because the water was too high,” said Allen Rumold, who manages the marina, which includes a restaurant and a store.

The dull July 4 came on the heels of a tough Memorial Day, traditionally the first big lake weekend of the season. Heavy rains and storms in May precluded the usual holiday merrymaking. The deluge brought Perry Lake to its historic high of 29.65 feet above its norm of 891.5 feet above sea level, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Many of the boats in the marina are 50-footers and very tall, Rumold said. Because the water was so high, the boats were too tall to go under the bridge that leads across the lake. And because the boats are idle, boat owners are not buying gasoline at the marina. Business at the marina store and restaurant was down 75% compared with last summer, Rumold estimated.

Some people do come and stay on the boats moored at the marina. However, some docks don’t have electricity because of the flooding.

“Without electricity, they can’t use the air conditioners on their boats, and it’s hard to sleep when there is no air conditioning,” Rumold said. “A few people have brought their own generators.”

Adding to the general misery, part of the parking lot at the marina is still underwater, but Rumold is trying to remain positive and hopes that people will keep the faith that summer fun will return.

“Things could be worse,” he noted.

While July 4 was slow at the marina, camping was null at Perry State Park because it was without electricity due to flooding. With no swimming or the launching of motorboats anywhere in the park, the lake was basically closed, said Kathy Pritchett with the Kansas Department of Wildlife Parks and Tourism.

Over at Clinton State Park, in one of the few public campgrounds open in the area, the situation was better. During the July 4 weekend only 44% of the camping sites were vacant, Pritchett said. However, the water level is still 21 feet above its normal 875.50 feet above sea level, with all boat ramps, courtesy docks and the Bloomington swimming beach closed.

Samantha Jones, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ natural resource manager for Clinton and Hillsdale lakes, said that it would be a while, even with the water receding, before Clinton returned to its normal level.

“Everything flooded,” Jones said. “All the grass that was under the water is dead. There is water in the bathrooms and shower houses. We don’t know what conditions we’ll find, and we won’t know until the water goes down.”